SHERPA RoMEO Blog

New SHERPA/RoMEO Journals Database

RoMEO has been building its own database of journals for the publishers it lists, with two main aims:

1. To identify journal titles more accurately with their publishers
2. To include journals that are not currently covered by the external look-up databases that RoMEO uses

The work has been proceeding well. Over 95% of RoMEO publishers have been processed, yielding nearly 18,000 journal titles (although this includes a few duplicates). We are currently checking the quality of the data, and updating the RoMEO search interface.

You are invited to try the latest prototype of the upgraded interface at:

www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/index34.php

Please remember that this is a prototype and is liable to change. It has not yet been optimised for speed. It displays real data, but some information such as alternative journal titles may not yet be visible. Upgrading the API will follow later.

There are two things that you are likely to notice:

1. There is a new row in the RoMEO publisher details labelled ‘Journals’. This normally has links to the list of journals we have for the publisher, and to the publisher’s own list of journals. It also indicates the number of partner organisations that the publisher works with. Currently, the journals for most imprints are listed under their parent publisher rather than under their own name (e.g. Routledge and Taylor & Francis). However, we are working to improve this.
2. Many journals now list two or more ‘publishers’ – for instance a publishing house and its client scholarly society. This may be confusing, especially where there are different archiving policies for each of the organisations. We are working to improve this situation by eliminating unnecessary information and providing guidance where appropriate.

We would welcome feedback on the prototype, either as comments here on the SHERPA/RoMEO Blog, or privately by email to romeo@sherpa.ac.uk.

Peter