You should consider a number of factors when deciding which open access journal to publish in, and many of those factors are the same ones you would consider when deciding which paywalled journal to publish in. Watch this video from Think. Check. Submit. on things to consider when choosing a journal.
Other factors to consider:
For fully open access journals, check to see if it's listed in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) or Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA).
Lots of legitimate OA journals, especially those run by volunteers, are not members of DOAJ or OASPA, but it can be an easy way to find out information on journals that are in it.
You can also check to see if a journal has been removed from DOAJ and for what reason or see if it has claimed to be listed in DOAJ when it has not.
For any journal, is the publisher is a member of the and/or the Committee of Publication Ethics?
Again, many legitimate journals, especially those run by volunteers, are not part of COPE, but it does provide mediation services for when complaints are filed for member publishers.
Does the journal have a clearly defined scope?
Does the journal list all editorial board members?
Is the journal affiliated with a professional society or other non-profit group?
Again, a journal does not have to be associated, but it can help you evaluate it.
Is the journal up front and clear about its policy in regards to copyright and what, if any, licensing it uses for articles (such as a Creative Commons license)? Does it require you to transfer your copyright, or do you keep it?
Does the journal have an ISSN (International Standard Serial Number) and, for each article, a DOI (Digital Object Identifier)?
Any journal can obtain ISSN and DOIs and thus these should not be seen as indicators of quality. However, an ISSN tracks information about the journal that you can use, and DOIs are used by many tools in scholarly communication that can help you track the impact of your work.
If the journal claims to be indexed by specific databases, verify it actually is.
If you're still not sure, you can also use COPE's codes of best practices for journal publishers and editors as a guide for evaluating a journal.
Not sure if a conference is worth attending? Check out Think. Check. Attend.
If you're unsure about a scholarly journal, you can contact your subject librarian or email Scholarly Communications Librarian Teresa Schultz at teresas@unr.edu.
Interested in starting your own open access journal? Check out these guides for tips on starting a small journal.
