INASP and African Journals Online (AJOL) have awarded the first round of Journal Publishing Practices and Standards (JPPS) badges to journals on the Journals Online platforms from Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Mongolia and Central America.
JPPS is a detailed assessment framework and process for recognizing the quality of publishing processes in journals from the Global South. Using 108 detailed criteria, journals are awarded one of six JPPS badges. The purpose of the assessments and badges are two-fold: they provide a guide to authors and readers about journals they can trust and, importantly, they also provide a detailed report to guide journal editors in how to develop their journals. Journals are guided on where there are gaps in their processes or in the information on their websites and invited to resubmit their journals for reassessment, with evidence of developments, after six months.
Responses to the initial assessments from journal editors have been overwhelmingly positive. The JPPS team has received scores of emails thanking us for the detailed reports and the badges but also, in many cases, detailing the steps they plan to take to improve the qualities of their journal processes as a result of their initial reports.
“We are very pleased to be able to provide the initial JPPS badges and to receive such positive feedback from journal editors. It is very encouraging to see how JPPS aligns with editors’ own development plans and to be able to provide this international recognition for these journals,” commented Sioux Cumming, Programme Manager for the Journals Online project at INASP.
JPPS badges for African Journals Online are expected to follow later this year.
A full list of the journals with JPPS badges can be found here and can be sorted by country and level. Please note that the JPPS site and the Journals Online platforms are the only reliable sources of information about what JPPS badges journals have been awarded.
I am really very impressed by the rating of our Journal, African Journal of Clinical and Experimental Microbiology as one star by the JPPS. I only became Editor in Chief in January 2019 and initiated some new reform in the Journal including creating a journal website in addition to the AJOL site, all these without being aware of the JPPS framework in existence. So, I appreciate your objective assessment. I will work with my board members to take the journal to the next star until we get to the top and maintain the journal there. Thank you