We started the SOAP for a reason. In the arts, architecture, built environment and design, we still have highly relevant publications that Google Scholar or other indexes do not include in their searches or only indirectly through the registration of separate articles in university repositories by the authors themselves.

These journals are typically published by book publishers in the field of art and design (with limited knowledge of the world of academics), by small groups of individuals (with limited resources), and by learned societies (that know how to reach their audience) for which it is less urgent to get into indexes to be found.

There is some disbelieve among authors and editors that their journal might be indexable because it may be too exceptional, cares too much for graphic design, or does not use English as its language.

We like to prove you wrong. Often, there is some work to do. Still, our point of view is that your publication can remain itself, being able to reach out to your original audience, and you don't have to make significant concessions regarding the content or (digital) print.

In the SOAP approach, the publication comes first. We grew up with publishers of design books where each book is unique, and we are okay with that. But the same publishers often have little understanding of a scholarly publication's academic requirements.

That explains why we combine both: we won't discuss the identity of your journal or books, but we will work with you to achieve optimal academic exposure and recognition of the hard work that goes into your publication.

To start with, we include a journal in Open Journal System (OJS). After uploading the journal in OJS, indexing in Google Scholar follows in a few weeks. The next step is registering in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) and taking it from there.