Journal Checker Tool update: we listen and learn from you

13/10/2021

We value feedback from researchers, institutions, funders, and publishers and based on it we always seek to improve the Journal Checker Tool (JCT) to ensure that all users get access to clear advice for Plan S compliance. The latest changes (dated 13th October 2021) include visual modifications, language simplification in the description of results and a new feature to share the results.

Key changes

Many users commented that there was a lot of space on the results page that required long scrolling. Now you can view the results of your search query, with no need to scroll. At the same time, the layout remains simple, uncluttered, with sufficient space, in line with website design accessibility requirements. (See Figure 1).

Figure 1: JCT results page

Furthermore, extensive consultations run by members of cOAlition S with their researchers revealed points of confusion that arose due to wording on the JCT website. Our reviewed wording explains the search results in more specific language. For example, when authors are making their manuscripts OA via the repository route (often referred to as “green OA”) the JCT makes clear that no publishing fees apply to this route. (See Figure 2).

Figure 2: Updated language in the JCT

The JCT also includes the option to “Share this result” as a URL, as seen in Figure 3 below. This can be useful when communicating with researchers about Plan S-aligned publishing options for specific journals and when reporting any problems with the JCT.

Figure 3: Share results function

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