On October 22 and 23 research funders, editors-in-chief of prestigious academic journals, and publishers will come togetherin Rotterdam, the Netherlands, to discuss and test New quality indicators for young (open access) journals.This high level expert colloquium will take place during Open Access Week 2012 .

Initiative to establish indicators of quality

For young , especially Open Access, journals no indicator of their potential is available at the moment. This lack of indicators of quality is the main barrier for authors to publish in these journals.

The Netherlands Research Organisation (NWO), Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), Amsterdam University Press (AUP) and SURF (national Dutch ICT organisation for higher education) have launched a shared initiative to establish two indicators:

• for the quality of the editors
• for the quality of the peer review process

Release of indicators>

Based on the outcome of this international expert forum, the indicators will be finalized and released. Publishers of new journals can then advertise their score on the journal, research sponsors can use the indicators in granting open access publication fees. And last but not least, authors will have a reliable source of information on where to publish their work.