The aim of the DOAJ is to increase the visibility and ease of use of open access scientific and scholarly journals & thereby promoting their increased usage and impact. This aims to be comprehensive and cover all open access scientific and scholarly journals that use a quality control system to guarantee the content.
When you are looking through web resources do you maintain a healthy skepticism on what you find? Consider the following criteria to evaluate the information resources that you access. The guiding questions for each criterion help to evaluate the source, but it is not necessary that you are able to answer every question, but that you consider each category and make an informed decision about the source before using:
What makes the author(s) an authority on this subject?
Does the author cite his/her experience/credentials?
Is there any way to contact the author?
In what publication/Web site does the article appear? Who is responsible for the information presented?
Is the publication peer-reviewed or scholarly?
Is material taken from other sources fully credited?
Scope, Coverage & Relevance
Who is the intended audience? (general, specialized readership, scholars, etc.)
Are the content and level appropriate for your assignment?
What time period is covered?
What geographical area is covered?
Is this information a subset of a more comprehensive source? If so, who abridged it and why?
Bias & Accuracy
How is the information presented? (fact, opinion, propaganda, etc.)
If presented as fact, is it accurate? Can you find other sources that corroborate the information?
Is there a bias? (cultural, political, religious, etc.) If so, is the bias clearly stated?
Currency / Timeliness
How recent is the information? Is it important that the information is up-to-date?
Is some of the information obviously out-of-date? Too old for your needs?
Quality
Did it use accepted methodologies for its field, insofar as you know?
Is the information clearly written?
Is the information presented in an organized manner? Do the links work?
Does the author agree or disagree with the majority of other scholars in the discipline?
Commercialism
Is the presenter selling something - a product, a philosophy, himself/herself?
Does the article/Web site have a corporate sponsor?