In a blog post explaining the new approach, Jason Priem noted that the traditional approach of a "deny list" has many drawbacks, including being opaque, going stale, and presenting a magnet for legal actions. Instead of a deny list, OpenAlex has created accept lists. To keep predatory journals out of a query, filter in journals that a trusted organization has already vetted. The blog post includes a table for 22 lists that OpenAlex consults to determine trustworthiness and mentions some others that it is adding for a current total of 61. Note that the lists originate in a number of different countries and cover multiple languages.
OpenAlex does not endorse any one journal, does not determine whether it is good or bad. It simply directs librarians and researchers to lists where the journal appears. "Judgment stays with the people who dade the list. We just make it queryable," wrote Priem.
Suggestions on trying the lists appears on the blog:
- On the website: the listed in filter on sources, source listed in on works, and a page for every list.
- In the API: sources?filter=listed_in:jufo-3, works?filter=primary_location.source.listed_in:medline, works?group_by=primary_location.source.listed_in, and the source-lists entity at api.openalex.org/source-lists.
- Docs: help.openalex.org/data/source-lists.