V.O.L. stands for Volunteer, Open-Access, Library-hosted Journals. V.O.L. Journals represents a partnership between the University of Tennessee Libraries and journals published, edited, and/or founded by researchers and scholars affiliated with the University of Tennessee. There are currently fourteen (14) journals that publish using the V.O.L. Journals platform. 

A V.O.L. Journals partnership works by: the UT Libraries provides expertise and services to support journal publishers. We provide a platform for journal publishing, mint DOIs, offer guidance on journal indexing, lead consultations related to best practices in journal publishing as outlined by the Committee on Publication Ethics, and partner with editors and publishers in numerous other ways. V.O.L. Journals is not a publisher, but partners with publishers to improve their visibility and sustain their operations. 

Why use V.O.L. Journals? Making research open access supports the land-grant mission of UTK and allows people from all backgrounds to view helpful information. Open access research can be more easily viewed and downloaded, adding to the researcher’s overall impact in their field and beyond. 

If you are interested in starting (or transfering) a scholarly journal to the V.O.L. Journals platform, please fill out our Journal Interest Form.