Governance

The community has chosen: introducing the new DOAJ Advisory Board

Towards the end of last year, I wrote about the new governance model that DOAJ was implementing in 2019. The first step of that process is now complete and the community has chosen a new DOAJ Advisory Board. I am absolutely delighted to introduce them here:

Leslie Chan, University of Toronto, Canada
Jan Erik Frantsvåg, The University of Tromsø – The Arctic University of Norway, Norway
Mark Hahnel, Digital Science (Figshare), UK
Rolf Halse, NSD – Norwegian Centre for Research Data, Norway
Emma Molls, University of Minnesota, USA
Anja Oberländer, University of Konstanz, Germany
Solange Maria Dos Santos, SciELO, Brazil
Lisa Schiff, California Digital Library, USA
Steven Vidovic, University of Southampton, UK

Our website will be updated with the new names and a conflict of interest statement from each of them will be added there.

The inaugural Advisory Board meeting will be held in the autumn before which a Chair person for the Board will be voted in.

The DOAJ Council will be announced in September.

Finally, I would like to thank our outgoing Advisory Board for their dedication, input and wisdom over the years:

Kevin Stranack, PKP (Public Knowledge Project)
Caren Milloy, JISC
Cameron Neylon
David Prosser, RLUK (Research Libraries UK)
Iryna Kuchma, EIFL (Electronic Information For Libraries)
Stuart Shieber, Harvard University
Martin Rasmussen, Copernicus Publications
Paul Peters, Hindawi Publishing Corporation
Arianna Becerril-García, Redalyc
Susan Murray, AJOL (African Journals Online)

DOAJ’s New Governance Model

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 18th December 2018 DOAJ will implement a new governance model in 2019 which will see DOAJ financers having a role in the organisation’s Board and Council. All organisations funding DOAJ with €1500 or more will be eligible for nomination.

In January 2019 DOAJ will inaugurate a new governance model providing the structure and transparency that it needs to meet its strategic goals, and ensure the organisation is fit-for-purpose for at least the next 5 years.

Today, DOAJ is run by the DOAJ Team with help provided as and when we need it—and always willingly—by our Advisory Board. Over the last 5 years, DOAJ has grown in size and importance and has come to a point where the existing model is no longer fit for purpose. DOAJ needs to be more formally structured and transparent if it is to meet the needs of the academic community, as well as its funders and sponsors.

DOAJ's governance model

The model for DOAJ’s governance was first drafted in October 2017 and has been reviewed and updated after input from the current Advisory Board. When the SCOSS model for funding DOAJ and other services was announced at the end of 2017, we decided that it is only fitting that the donors get some input into how DOAJ is run. We are proposing an Advisory Board of a maximum of 9 seats, and a Council with a maximum of 15 seats. Their role is to provide expert advice to the DOAJ Team and help us meet our strategic goals. We are also establishing an editorial subcommittee to assist us with questions around editorial process and content quality.

An organisational chart, showing how the Board, Council and Subcommittee interact with each other and with the DOAJ Team will be published shortly.

All organisations and publishers donating €1500 or more to DOAJ every year are eligible for nominations and will be invited to submit candidates for election to the new Advisory Board and the Council. Specific invitations will be sent out early in the New Year.