China National Publications Import & Export (Group) Corporation, the Society of China University Journals, and Tsinghua University Library have jointly initiated International Open Access (OA) Journals Recommended List. This list aims to select high-quality and reputable OA journals, providing support for researchers to avoid low-quality journals and better choose platforms for publishing their results. To enhance the fairness and transparency of the selection process, this section explains the basic principles, methods, procedures, and exit mechanisms for the OA Journal Recommended List.

The Academic Board adheres to the general principles of fairness, justice, and openness in carrying out the selection of the OA journal recommended list. The selection work is supported by the joint participation of both domestic and international academic and scholar communities, with the responsible publishing of journals as the main thread of evaluation. It focuses on the performance of journals in OA practices, carries out evaluations based on a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, and maintains dynamic updates based on the autonomy of the academic community.

1. China's Journal Evaluation System: Based on the current situation and needs of scientific publication and journal evaluation in China, combined with the basic characteristics, values, and practical experiences of China's journal evaluation, a Chinese wisdom-based OA journal evaluation method is developed.
2. International Cooperation: Collaborates globally to establish evaluation criteria and processes for OA journals, involving both domestic and international experts.
3. Publication Quality Control: Evaluates journals based on adherence to scientific publishing standards, ensuring no bias due to subject or region.
4. Open Access Practices: Identifies best practices of OA journals and encourages better performance in these areas.
5. Qualitative and Quantitative Evaluation: Combines expert qualitative assessments with quantitative data analysis to support the evaluation process.
6. Scholar Community Autonomy: Welcomes feedback from all stakeholders and iterates the recommended list based on scholarly inquiries, journal appeals, and expert discussions.

The Board evaluates journals using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. The selection criteria mainly consist of two parts: basic requirements for journal inclusion and an evaluation system.

1. Basic Requirements:
   • Possess a standard International Standard Serial Number (ISSN). Have been established for over a year or published more than 10 papers.
   • Primarily target researchers or practitioners in relevant fields, regularly publishing original papers in scientific and academic journals. The journal should have a clear and specific scope for soliciting articles.
   • Must be a fully Open Access journal. There should be a clear explanation and presentation of the journal's Open Access policies, including copyright terms and Open Access license terms (such as Creative Commons).
   • Have a continuously operating official journal website or an independent webpage under the publisher's website. The website should provide detailed information on the journal's basic information, target areas, and the publication process.
   • Implement peer review. The peer review process must be publicly and clearly explained by the journal.
2. Evaluation System:

The evaluation system includes both qualitative and quantitative indicators. Quantitative data serves as a reference for journal evaluation and supports expert qualitative evaluations. It should be noted that each indicator is not used in isolation, and a journal is not excluded based on a single poor performance or anomaly in an indicator.Considering the significant differences in scale between new and established journals, new journals will be reviewed separately, with a greater emphasis on evaluating their growth and development trends.The "Publishing Practices" and "Quality Control" indicators will be used to select journals with good publication process management practices and a certain academic contribution to the field. The "Open Access Practice" indicators will be used to identify journals with the best practice performance among those already included in the recommended list.

The "International OA Journal Recommended List" is assessed and updated annually. The scope of journals evaluated includes OA journals that were already in the recommended list in the previous year and those applying to enter the list in the year of assessment.

The data working group collects relevant data on the journals under evaluation and conducts a preliminary review of the applying journals. Based on the selection criteria, journals that do not meet the basic requirements for inclusion are excluded. For journals that meet the basic requirements and are awaiting review, their performance and characteristics in terms of publication standards, quality control, and OA practices are analyzed. Qualitative evaluation materials are integrated, and quantitative indicators are constructed to serve as reference information for subject experts in their evaluations.

The evaluation committee review consists of three stages:

1. Desk Review. For journals under review, based on their academic subject, they are distributed to multiple corresponding subject committee members for independent evaluation. The desk review will refer to the quantitative indicators of the evaluated journals. Considering the characteristics of the discipline and the positioning of the journal, subject experts will qualitatively assess and score the performance of the evaluated journals in "publishing practices" and "quality control". Journals with good overall scores and recognized by all subject experts will directly enter the candidate list for the recommended list; journals with good overall scores but with inconsistent opinions among subject experts will proceed to a meeting review to confirm their selection.
2. Meeting Review. For journals with inconsistent opinions among subject experts, the committee invites subject experts in related fields to hold an expert review meeting to discuss and confirm whether the journal should be recommended. Journals approved by more than 2/3 of the attending experts will enter the candidate list for the recommended list. Based on the results of the desk review and meeting review, a candidate list for the International OA Journal Recommended List is generated based on the journals' performance in "Publishing Practices" and "Quality Control".
3. On this basis, based on the performance and scores of the journals in the "Open Access Practice" aspect among the candidates, journals with top "Open Access Practice" performance in each academic field are selected for best practice journal recommended.

The "International OA Journal Recommended List" establishes an exit mechanism to annually exclude journals that lack sufficient academic contribution, have inadequate publication process management, or exhibit ethical risks or academic misconduct in their publishing practices, ensuring the quality and standards of the recommend journals.Key phenomena under scrutiny include:

1. Journals that fail to effectively implement peer-review.
2. Academic fraud or excessive self-citation leading to a sharp decline in academic reputation and contribution.
3. Abnormal growth in the number of published papers, excessively short review cycles, and extremely low rejection rates, indicating potential predatory risks.