Academic journal website from the user’s perspective

Professional community recommendations on the content of academic journal websites mostly include criteria for indexing in databases, however these recommendations do not consider the authors’ and reviewers’ perspective on the website contents and design. To address this, we analyzed these recommendations through a survey of 198 Russian academic journal authors and reviewers, using a continuous sampling technique. The survey took place in April and May 2024. The questionnaire was based on the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing by COPE, DOAJ etc. The survey also focused on the journal website content, design, mobile version, and publication strategy of academic journal website users. We analyzed the survey results for two partially overlapping sets of authors who published in journals indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection, Scopus, and Russian Citation Science Index Core, or in journals listed by the Higher Attestation Commission of Russian Federation. The study revealed that both COPE’s recommendations and users of academic websites value information regarding aims and scope of the journal, copyright fees, review policies, timelines for the editorial and publication process, and licensing. However, Russian authors and reviewers put less emphasis on website sections that address ethical principles and authorship criteria. They prioritize having an online editorial office, security certification, scientific journal indexing and abstracting information, additional educational materials, and the ability to customize the website for devices with different screen sizes. We also discuss the importance of HTML meta tags for promoting the journal’s website. The findings of the research may contribute to promotion of Russian academic journals in international databases, improve the efficiency of communication between authors, reviewers and editors, and develop a set of recommendations that complement international publishing conventions. 

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