Explore platforms and initiatives to identify reputable journals and ensure your work is published ethically:

• Think. Check. Submit: initiative aimed to educate researchers, promote integrity and build trust in credible research and publications through a range of tools and practical resources
• Jisc Open Policy Finder (previously Sherpa Romeo/Juliet): provides information on publishers’ open access policies and funding compliance
• AuthorAid: a global network supporting researchers in low- and middle-income countries with resources and mentoring for writing and publishing
• Beall’s list: a (black)list of potential predatory journals and publishers

Ensure your work adheres to ethical standards in writing and publishing:

• COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics): promotes integrity in research and its publication
• Retraction Watch: tracks retractions of scientific papers and provides insights into research integrity
• Equator Network: provides guidelines for reporting health research to ensure transparency and accuracy
• ALLEA Code of Conduct for Research Integrity: European Code of conduct for Research Integrity offering guidance on responsible research practices
• Singapore Statement on Research Integrity: Global principles and professional responsibilities to foster integrity in research

Discover tools and initiatives that provide information and support, promote and, in the case of Plan S, require open access publishing:

• DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals): an extended index of qualitative Open Access journals applying rigid peer review
• OA Journals Toolkit: comprehensive policies and guidance on copyright and licensing for open access journals
• Creative Commons: offers licenses to enable sharing and (re-)use of creative works. CC-BY licenses are the most frequently attributed licenses.
• OASPA (Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association): advocate for high standards in open access publishing
• Plan S: an initiative of coAlition S which requires researchers to make their research immediately available in open access (as of 2021)
• Open Access.be: provides information about Open Access publishing in Belgium
• ROARMAP (Registery of Open Access Repository Mandates and Policies): a searchable international registry of Open Access mandates and policies of universities, research institutes and funders
• Journal Checker Tool: a tool that provides researchers with advice on how to comply with their funders’ Plan S-oriented Open Access policy when publishing in their chosen journal
• Diamond OA journals: a list of open access journals across the world that are free for readers and authors
• Eigenfactor Index of Open Access Fees: a list of major OA journals ordered from most to least cost effective with respect to publication fees (APCs)

Stay informed about the latest trends and best practices in scholarly publishing:

• Scholarly Kitchen: a blog offering expert insights into scholarly publishing trends and challenges
• Think. Check. Attend: a companion to Think.Check.Submit, offering best practices for researchers attending academic conferences or events
• SciRev: helps researchers to choose a journal based on other researchers’ experiences

Here are some tools that can assist the writing process, streamline your research and improve overall efficiency:

• Covidence: a web-based platform that helps research teams efficiently screen, extract and synthesize literature. In addition to systematic reviews, Covidence also supports scoping reviews, narrative reviews, rapid reviews, umbrella reviews and concept mapping (license required)
• Mendeley: a free reference management software to manage your resources for your research and collaborate
• Zotero: an open-source reference management tool for collecting, organizing and citing resources
• Rayyan: a web-based tool for systematic review screening
• Grammarly: a writing assistant that helps improve grammar, style and clarity
• ChatGPT: a generative AI tool for brainstorming, drafting and refining academic writing
• Notion: a productivity and organization tool that can be used to manage your research project and collaboration
• ORCID: provides researchers with a unique identifier (ORCID iD) and a mechanism for linking their research outputs and activities to their ORCID iD
• LibKey: designed to give you quick access to full text (open access or ITM subscribed) articles. More information on the Digital Access page.

In May 2026, ITM published its Policy on Open Access and Archiving Journal Publications.

The purpose of this policy is to define expectations for anyone publishing in scholarly journals or open research platforms with ITM affiliation with regards to archiving and open access.

It contains two requirements:

• Archiving in PURE: All publications in scholarly journals or open research platforms with ITM affiliation must be added to the ITM Institutional Repository (PURE) and, if applicable, connected with the research projects in PURE from which they were generated. Questions about documenting research outputs and other scholarly contributions not covered by this policy in PURE can be directed to the Library.

• Open Access: All journal publications published after the approval of this policy should be open access either:

  1. by publishing in an open access venue (e.g., gold, hybrid, or diamond open access journal, or open research platform), or

  2. by archiving the author accepted manuscript in an open repository such as ITM PURE (or another repository) no more than 12 months after the date of publication in accordance with Article XI.196 of Belgian Code of Economic Law^[1].

Clarification about when to use ITM affiliation, specifically for students and Alumni is provided in these FAQs.