Digital quality characteristics of Mexican academic journals assessed in the Latindex Catalog 2.0

Abstract

Objective: to identify the degree of integration of quality characteristics inherent to digital journals in order to assess how they are taking advantage of the current tools that facilitate the access and use of scientific information. Methodology: Eight digital characteristics of the Latindex Catalog 2.0 methodology were selected and their presence was verified in the institutional websites of 195 journals edited in Mexico. Results: Characteristics with a lesser degree of presence are: interactivity services with readers, use of more than one editing format for full text consultation, as well as the establishing of digital preservation policies, all of them with a compliance of less than 50%. Of the studied group, 127 journals (65%) integrated between five and eight characteristics on their websites. Conclusions: The integration of the eight quality criteria inherent to digital journals is differentially met by the studied publications. Likewise, it became clear that the digital tools and services available in the OJS manager are not being fully exploited by most of the analyzed journals. One of the most important findings is that there is necessary to promote the integration of a greater number of the characteristics specific to digital journals, particularly in those that remain in a very basic level and that nevertheless are referred as digital on par with other journals that have a higher digital adaptation.