Niche Journal Increases Readership & Scope of Content by Publishing in George Fox University’s Repository

Like so many editors of niche journals these days, Editor-in-Chief Paul Mojzes used to be afraid for the future of Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe (OPREE). After publishing in Digital Commons @ George Fox University Dr. Mozjes now says he is “levitating with excitement” to see the pins dropping on their global readership map. Dr. Mojzes explains that not only has the readership expanded, but increased submissions have allowed the journal to expand the scope of its content and number of issues published. 

Publishing through the repository gave this journal substantial international reach, as Dr. Mojzes relates: “I am getting emails from graduate theology students in Europe writing that OPREE is one of the most important sources for their research,” Dr. Mojzes reported, explaining that “When we transferred OPREE to an electronic publication I thought we’d do very well if we came out 2-3 times a year. We are doing *much* better than that! Ever since Alex Rolfe, the librarian of George Fox University, scanned all of the issues…and placed it on Digital Commons the results are astonishing.” 

Dr. Mojzes told Alex Rolfe, Technical Services and Scholarly Communications Librarian, that he appreciates tracking the increased activity on the Readership Map and Institutions Panel of the DC Dashboard, which makes it easy to report on the journal’s success to its Advisory Board.