DOAJ commissions a new metadata survey

DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals) has appointed Gold Leaf, a small consultancy based jointly in the UK and the USA, to conduct a thorough survey of the journal-level metadata it collects.

Currently, DOAJ indexes more than 20,300 journals. Every entry is checked manually. The new survey will seek feedback from all stakeholders worldwide – researchers, librarians, funders, professional organisations and industry support groups – on how they use the metadata DOAJ collects and displays and how it might be streamlined.? Gold Leaf will use an online survey as the primary research vehicle and follow up the main survey with individual interviews.

Dominic Mitchell, DOAJ, said: “We’re delighted to work with Gold Leaf on what will be a cornerstone piece of work for us this year. Our stakeholder communities are key in the continuing success of DOAJ and we want to ensure that we remain reliable and trustworthy to them and all users.”

Linda Bennett of Gold Leaf said: “Gold Leaf feels privileged to have been chosen for this initiative, which will make a significant contribution to the Open Access project across the world.”

The survey will be launched in early April. It will be publicised widely, both on social media and through direct communication via DOAJ’s and Gold Leaf’s many contacts. Gold Leaf will also actively seek out responses from new contacts and welcomes direct approaches from all stakeholders who would like to participate.

To receive the link to the survey or for more information about the project, please sign up here or contact Gold Leaf:

Annika Bennett [email protected] (based in the UK)

Linda Bennett? [email protected] (based in the UK)

Brigitte Shull [email protected] (based in the USA).

DOAJ and Gold Leaf anticipate that the work will have been completed by the end of July 2024. The results and recommendations will be published soon afterwards.