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New check

Comparison

Cabells vs Doaj

Cabells lands on Depends, and Doaj lands on Worth it.

Cabells

www2.cabells.com

Depends
Confidence: Medium

Buy it through an institution: university libraries and research offices get real value vetting journals against 20,000+ known predatory outlets.

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Doaj

doaj.org

Worth it
Confidence: Medium

Free, community-funded index that is the de facto whitelist for legitimate open-access journals . researchers, librarians and funders should use it.

Read the full report

Cabells versus Doaj
CompareCabellsDoaj
VerdictDependsWorth it
Best forUniversity librariesResearchers vetting open-access journals
Who it's not forIndividual researchers paying out of pocket . no individual pricingBuyers wanting a purchasable SaaS tool with support SLAs
PrivacyNo known public vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.⁷No public vulnerabilities found for DOAJ itself; a 2025 XSS CVE affects a third-party WordPress export plugin, not.
Support qualityNo support evidence in sourcesNo support quality evidence in sources
Public sentimentLibrarians praise its predatory-journal coverage while academic studies question the reliability of its blacklist criteria.⁸Researchers and librarians treat DOAJ as the free go-to whitelist for legitimate open-access journals, while some debate whether it carries the same weight as Scopus.16
Biggest gotchaExpect quote-based pricing; no published rates anywhere⁵Fake journals claim DOAJ indexing; always verify on itself, not the journal's site14

Pick Cabells when

  • University libraries
  • Research integrity offices
  • Academics choosing where to publish
  • Publishers screening references

When Cabells is not a fit

  • Individual researchers paying out of pocket . no individual pricing
  • Anyone wanting free journal vetting . checklists cover the basics
  • Those needing an uncontested blacklist . methodology is academically critiqued
  • Small departments without library-scale budgets

Pick Doaj when

  • Researchers vetting open-access journals
  • Librarians curating trusted OA collections
  • Funders checking OA compliance
  • OA publishers building credibility

When Doaj is not a fit

  • Buyers wanting a purchasable SaaS tool with support SLAs
  • Authors needing impact factors or citation metrics
  • Committees requiring Scopus/Web of Science prestige
  • Journals wanting quick, guaranteed indexing

Sources

  1. Press Release: Cabells' Predatory Reports Database Hits 20,000 Deceptive Journalsstephenslighthouse.com
    news
  2. Cabells' Predatory Reports Passes 15,000 Predatory Journals Listedstm-publishing.com
    news
  3. How reliable and useful is Cabell's Blacklist? (Liber Quarterly)liberquarterly.eu
    review
  4. Cabells' Predatory Reports criteria: Assessment and proposed revisionsresearchgate.net
    review
  5. Cabells' Predatory Reports . Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
    review
  6. Journal Selection Policycabells.com
    official
  7. Security page (not found)www2.cabells.com
    security
  8. Örebro University Library recommendationoru.se
    review
  9. Waseda University usage contract extensionwaseda.jp
    news
  10. Katina review: Cabells Journalytics and Predatory Reportskatinamagazine.org
    review
  11. How to avoid predatory journals: Think, check, submitjrmo.org.uk
    review
  12. DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journalsdoaj.org
    official
  13. DOAJ Application Guide for OJS Journals - PKP Docsdocs.pkp.sfu.ca
    official
  14. Some journals say they are indexed in DOAJ but they are notblog.doaj.org
    official
  15. DOAJ supporter modelsdoaj.org
    official
  16. A Review of the Directory of Open Access Journalsdcdm.doody.com
    review