What is a mirror journal?

Mirror journals are open access versions of already existing subscription-only journals. It is a new journal that is affiliated to an existing journal. In fact, it has the same name as the original journal along with an “X” suffixed. These journals have separate ISSNs and are separate publications. However, both share the same aims and scope, the same editorial board, and the same editorial peer-review policies. For the publisher, mirror journals offer a continued stream of revenue if the OA journal does not make enough money. A part of the research community considers mirror journals as one of the ways of flourishing OA without threatening publishers. On the other hand, another section of researchers think these journals are a way of double-dipping for the publishers as they are paid twice, once by the subscribers and then again by the authors as APCs.

In case you came across the term ‘mirror journals’ while choosing journals, you can take the help of Enago’s Journal Selection service wherein we have experts suggesting you with the top 3-5 journals best suited to your manuscript and preferences once you send us the criteria.