Discoverability, Indexing and Preservation

Responsible Visibility and Long-Term Stewardship

Open Christian Press works to ensure that published scholarship can be identified accurately, discovered through appropriate scholarly services, cited persistently, and maintained responsibly.

Our approach is based on reliable metadata, recognised identifiers, authoritative publication records, transparent indexing claims, and sustainable access. We do not present technical eligibility, planned applications, or unverified database visibility as confirmed indexing.

Persistent Identifiers

• Eligible journal articles, books, chapters, research reports, and conference proceedings may receive Digital Object Identifiers registered through Crossref. 

• Crossref DOI registration is supported through the Center for Faith and Work’s membership under the prefix:

• 10.65655

• Each DOI should resolve to the official publication landing page containing accurate bibliographic information, licensing details, publication status, and access options.

• Eligible books and separately issued formats receive ISBNs where appropriate. Different editions, languages, or formats may require separate ISBNs.

• Authors and editors are encouraged to provide ORCID identifiers. Institutional affiliations should use recognised organisational identifiers, including ROR identifiers, where available.

Publishing and Metadata Platforms

Open Christian Press uses specialised platforms for its journal and book programmes.

• Open Christian Journals: Journal submissions, issues, articles, and authoritative publication records are managed through Open Journal Systems at: journals.openchristian.education

• Open Christian Press Books:  Books, monographs, edited volumes, textbooks, and related publications are managed through Open Monograph Press at: books.openchristian.education

Publication records should include accurate titles, contributor names, affiliations, abstracts, keywords, dates, identifiers, licences, references, funding information, and review classifications where applicable.

Search and Scholarly Discovery

Open Christian Press supports responsible discovery through:

• descriptive page titles and headings;

• stable and crawlable links;

• accurate abstracts and keywords;

• complete contributor and affiliation information;

• Crossref metadata;

• ISBN and ISSN records;

• accessible OJS and OMP landing pages;

• consistent information across publication files and online records.

Search engines, scholarly discovery systems, library tools, repositories, and AI-assisted search services rely on accessible and well-structured information. Visibility in a search engine does not, however, constitute formal indexing.

ORCID is treated as a researcher-identity service, while Crossref functions as DOI and metadata infrastructure. Formal indexes, directories, citation databases, and preservation services are identified separately.

Indexing and Abstracting

Open Christian Press describes a journal, book, or series as indexed only where the relevant service has formally confirmed inclusion. We distinguish among:

• identifier and metadata services;

• search and discovery systems;

• scholarly directories;

• disciplinary indexes and citation databases;

• library catalogues and repositories;

• digital preservation services.

Applications, technical readiness, metadata exposure, and future plans are reported separately from confirmed acceptance. No database, directory, or preservation logo should be displayed unless participation or inclusion can be verified directly.

Legacy Zenodo Records

• Publications issued before migration to the current OJS infrastructure received Zenodo DOIs under the prefix: 10.5281

• These identifiers remain part of the historical publication record and should continue to resolve to their original Zenodo pages.

• Where a publication has subsequently been migrated to Open Journal Systems, the Zenodo record should identify the archived version clearly and link to the current publisher record where appropriate.

• Legacy Zenodo DOIs are not replaced or represented as newly registered Crossref identifiers.

Open-Access Book Discovery

As the Open Christian Press book catalogue develops, eligible peer-reviewed open-access books may be prepared for application to appropriate scholarly directories, including the Directory of Open Access Books.

Such applications require complete metadata, transparent peer review, clear licensing, stable OMP records, appropriate ISBNs, and unrestricted access to the open-access edition.

No directory or index should be presented as active before formal inclusion has been confirmed.

Preservation and Continuity

Operational backups and long-term preservation serve different purposes. Backups support recovery after accidental deletion, technical failure, or security incidents. Independent preservation arrangements are intended to support continued access if a server, platform, provider, or organisational structure changes.

Open Christian Press seeks to maintain:

• secure and regularly reviewed backups;

• final publication files and source metadata;

• current DOI destinations;

• ISBN and ISSN records;

• publication agreements and permissions;

• correction, withdrawal, and retraction notices;

• platform migration and continuity procedures.

Independent preservation networks or repositories should be named publicly only after participation has been confirmed.

Version of Record

The official OJS article page or OMP book page is the authoritative publisher record. Repository copies, author manuscripts, archived versions, and commercial listings should cite and link to the version of record. Corrections, revised editions, supplementary files, translations, withdrawals, and retractions should be labelled clearly and connected appropriately to the original publication.

Current Infrastructure

Open Christian Press currently operates:

• Crossref DOI registration under prefix 10.65655;

• Open Journal Systems for journals and articles;

• Open Monograph Press for books and monographs;

• active legacy Zenodo records under prefix 10.5281;

• ISBN assignment for eligible book formats;

• structured metadata for scholarly discovery.

Google Scholar visibility remains subject to successful crawling. Applications to directories, indexes, or preservation services are announced only after submission or formal confirmation.

Institutional Responsibility

• Open Christian Press is a scholarly publishing imprint of Open Christian University, co-published with the Center for Faith and Work.

• Open Christian University provides institutional publishing oversight, while the Center for Faith and Work supports scholarly publishing infrastructure, including Crossref DOI registration.

• Together, these institutions seek to steward scholarship through accurate identification, responsible discovery, transparent reporting, and sustainable access.

Enquiries

Journal, DOI, metadata, and indexing enquiries
editor@openchristian.education

Books, monographs, and ISBN enquiries
books@openchristian.education