Seven steps, always in this order

Step 1: Enquiry

You contact us by WhatsApp, e-mail or the enquiry form and tell us, in outline, what you have in mind: to sell, to acquire, or to have a journal valued. There is no need to name the journal yet, and nothing you tell us is passed on.

Shared at this stepAn outline only.

Step 2: Non-disclosure agreement

Before any detail is shared, an NDA is signed online. A buyer learns which journal is for sale only after signing, and a seller’s identity is protected on the same terms. This website takes no documents: once the NDA is signed, we send a secure upload link for anything that needs to be shared.

Shared at this stepNames and details, once the NDA is signed.

Step 3: Memorandum of understanding or term sheet

When both sides want to go ahead, the main terms are set down in writing: what is being sold, the price, the timetable, and the conditions that must be met first, due diligence among them.

Shared at this stepThe main terms, between the two parties.

Step 4: Due diligence, on both sides

We examine the journal: proof of ownership, the ISSN record, the DOI prefix and the status of any Crossref title transfer, indexing history, retractions, hijacked or cloned websites, and complaints. We examine the buyer too: who they are, and what they plan for the journal. What we find is put to both sides before the transfer agreement is signed.

Shared at this stepRecords and findings, under the NDA.

Step 5: Transfer agreement

The final agreement records the sale and sets out what each side must do to complete the transfer: who holds what, who tells whom, and by when.

Shared at this stepThe final terms, between the two parties.

Step 6: Managed handover

We carry out the transfer following NISO’s Transfer Code of Practice 5.0 (NISO RP-24-2026, March 2026):

• the Crossref title transfer, so that every existing DOI keeps working
• the update to the ISSN record
• a notice posted to the Transfer Alerting Service
• notice to every index the journal is in
• the new owner named on the journal’s own website
• a platform move, if one is needed.

Shared at this stepThe transfer itself, declared publicly.

Step 7: Stewardship

After completion we stay with the new owner while the journal settles: keeping editorial decisions with the editors, and keeping the journal’s metadata complete and correct.

Shared at this stepNothing new: the journal carries on, under its new owner.