OASPA Membership – how new applicants are assessed | Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association

"At OASPA, we strive to set the highest standards for open access scholarly publishing and to encourage a spirit of collaboration and community support amongst our membership.  We hope that many of our members have applied to join us because they want to be involved in this environment, where fellow members share their goals and experiences, so that we can learn from each other and advance the broader acceptance and practice of open access publishing. Membership is therefore taken very seriously and every effort is made to treat each new applicant fairly and efficiently.  Every application is reviewed by a membership committee and board members to ensure that all of the membership criteria are met by the organization.  If the information provided is incomplete or inconclusive, we also conduct additional background research where appropriate.  Usually this takes the form of looking in more detail at the applicant’s website and content, and in some cases contacting editors or authors.   We maintain close relationships with other organizations that have a review process before admittance, and are likewise striving to set similar standards and encourage good practices..."