Category: Uncategorized

Trends and Challenges in Open Journal System (OJS): A Comprehensive Analysis

Post author By Varun Patel
Post date February 16, 2023
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OJS trends and Challenges

Open Journal System (OJS) has recently attracted massive attention from the worldwide research community. The main reason behind the popularity of the open journal system is its robust architecture, which flawlessly supports the hosted open-access journal’s website. Open Journal System provides the strong software infrastructure required to inculcate the current trends in online journal systems.

In the last two decades, we have witnessed the immense growth and penetration of the internet in each field. In other words, we can say that there is no such area where the internet is not used directly or indirectly. So, research publication is the new area of interest for the “internet.”

Before the internet, research publications were a paper-based industry, which was the limitation and hurdle of exponential growth. Consequently, many publishers have taken the help of web development technology to mark their journal presence on WWW.

Using a journal website publisher has tried well to establish an editorial and publishing workflow, which was easy for the author to submit the research articles. But, the online journal website is difficult to maintain due to the complex editorial and publishing process flow.

As a result, Open Journal System has emerged as an open-sourced platform with a predefined editorial & publishing workflow needed for any open-access journal. Due to its open-sourced nature, OJS has become so much more popular. In the subsequent section, we will discuss the OJS a little.

So, What is Open Journal System (OJS)?

Open Journal System (OJS) is an open-source software platform for managing and publishing scholarly journals. The Public Knowledge Project (PKP), a non-profit organization based at Simon Fraser University, British Columbia, Canada, developed it. It is designed to assist with every stage of the journal publishing process, from submission and peer review to archiving and indexing.

Open Journal System provides various tools for editors, authors, and reviewers, including a submission and peer-review system, an editorial workflow, and a publishing platform. It also includes features like indexing, archiving, and multiple languages and currencies support.

The platform is already a home for more than 10000 scholarly open-access journals worldwide. Its open-source nature allows it to be modified per user tests and requirements.

Now that you know about the OJS, let’s address the core part of the discussion in the next section.

An open journal system is a novel and growing software system. I would put it much better by citing that Open Journal System is still in its infancy. It has seen a lot of improvement in the form of frequent minor and major version upgrades.

PKP is investing huge resources to make Open Journal System robust enough to cope with recent trends in online journal systems. In the subsequent section, I will highlight current trends in online journal publishing in the section beneath.

Set up a new Journal on Open Journal System (OJS)

Current trends in the Open Journal System (OJS):

Open Access

There is a growing trend towards open-access publishing, which provides free and unrestricted access to scholarly content. More readers are accessing published content in such journals, which attracts more authors to publish in open-access journals. Published content is cited as a reference for other researchers’ new or extended research work.

OJS has responded to this trend by providing robust open access options, such as Creative Commons licenses, and supporting alternative publishing models, such as preprints and open peer review.

Digital Publishing

The rise of digital publishing has transformed how scholarly content is produced, distributed, and consumed. Open Journal System has embraced this trend by providing a platform for online publishing that supports multimedia content, such as video and audio files, and interactive features, such as data visualizations.

Data Sharing

There is an increasing focus on sharing research data and making it more accessible and reusable. Open Journal System has responded to this trend by supporting data sharing and providing data citation and metadata tools.

Collaboration

Collaborative publishing has become increasingly important as researchers seek to work together across institutions and disciplines. OJS provides a platform for collaborative publishing, allowing multiple authors and editors to work together on a single journal or article.

Accessibility

There is a growing recognition of the importance of accessibility in scholarly publishing, particularly for readers with disabilities. OJS has responded to this trend by providing accessibility features, such as alternative text for images, and ensuring the platform is compatible with assistive technologies.

However, to keep itself current, PKP is constantly upgrading OJS. Despite rigorous technical care, it faces some recent challenges. In the next section, I will discuss the challenges faced by OJS.

The current challenges faced by OJS

Funding

Many times, just community support is not enough. Making software upto date sometimes requires to have funding as well. Sometimes the user of OJS needs extra functionalities. These requirements can only be fulfilled by third-party plugin development. Plugin development is not a cheap affair.

Sustainability

Any upgrades made on OJS need to be sustainable as well. Because sometimes it happened that changes are just like volcano eruptions: impactful at the beginning and calm in the end. So, functionalities and changes in OJS must be sustainable.

User Adoption and User Engagement

Users of normal journal websites may find it difficult to migrate their services to OJS, as they feel this may hinder their existing functionalities and reduce the website’s performance. So, it is challenging for OJS to attract new users and convince them about migrating journal websites from an old platform to a new one.

Technological Infrastructure

As the system grows, it requires a huge server infrastructure and a supporting developer community. So, infrastructure from a technology point of view is very challenging.

Keeping up with evolving standards and best practices.

Research publication is an ever-changing field. Specifically, editorial and publishing workflow is a very complex process to handle. These two process standards keep on changing. As per the guideline update from the world’s leading journal indexers, OJS must adopt the best practices, which is difficult.

Implementation and Customization

Recently, the software world is becoming more demanding regarding frequent changes. The consumer always demands specialized changes and customization. Sometimes it may happen that demanded customization may not be technically physible, so eventually, it becomes challenging.

Security Concerns

Content held by the journal website may be at risk. To overcome this situation, we must prevent such attacks on scholarly publications. Backup and recovery after the attack may be time-consuming, and sometimes, it may not be 100% achievable.

Ensuring Compatibility with other systems and software.

OJS setup is server intensive job. Simply speaking, OJS needs to talk with the server environment frequently. The technology used on the server side keeps on upgrading very often. To match the steps with such a frequently upgrading server environment, OJS must be up to date.

Increasing Efficiency

As OJS is not only software developed for information technocrats, it has a larger user base from a nontechnical background, like the Field of Medicine, Field of Education, etc. Such nontechnical use needs a user-friendly and nonredundant Graphical User Interface, which makes their relevant task very easy. Such efficient GUI required rigorous efforts and frequent upgrades to the system based on user experience and feedback.

Care during the OJS upgrade

Upgrading OJS is not as easy as upgrading the WordPress version for a normal website. This upgrade procedure does not involve clicking a single “upgrade” button. It is an expert task requiring extra care before going for the step. A scope of marginal error can ruin your hard work by corrupting structural files or publishing articles. To avoid any mishap, the below-listed area must be considered while upgrading.

Are you looking for new journal hosting on OJS? Book a free Consultation.

Get OJS Services >>

Conclusion

Open Journal System (OJS) has become an increasingly popular platform for scholarly publishing in recent years. However, several challenges need to be addressed, such as the need for more robust technical support and the need to ensure the quality and credibility of published research. Additionally, OJS needs to adapt to changing trends in scholarly publishing, such as the increasing importance of open access and the rise of preprint servers. Overall, OJS remains a valuable tool for scholarly publishing, but it must continue to evolve and improve to meet the needs of the academic community.

Tags OJS, OJS Challenges, OJS trends, Open Journal System, Research

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Why Open Access Journal is Important: Benefits and Impact on Research

Post author By Varun Patel
Post date February 3, 2023
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open journal system

Before discussing the open journal systems ( or pkp ojs popularity), I would also like to start with the root reason. So, developed and developing countries are spending tons of money on research infrastructures such as open-access journals.

The reason for the matter discussed in the opening remark could be the instant requirement of sustainable development and to avoid the currently seen negative effects of global warming. To elevate the research, each government wants their scholars to invest more time in finding new approaches to simplify daily human life without affecting the natural environment.

As a result, worldwide research communities and universities are putting extra effort into innovations. However, scholars must document their findings in research articles or book chapters to get others’ thoughts and comments.

Eventually, it required some arrangements to publish such scholarly articles. So, in the open-access journal, one can publish research articles and let them be available for peers to review and for future research reference. Open-access journals proved to be a rich source of online reference material.

open journal system — Why is OJS so popular?

The open-access journal has become increasingly popular among researchers, authors, and the general public. The concept of open access is based on the idea that scientific research should be freely available to everyone without the need to pay subscription fees. This allows for greater dissemination of knowledge, which in turn can lead to greater understanding and advancements in various fields. However, many individuals around the globe can’t have access to such costly resources to initiate the open access journal’s websites.

Why Open Access Journal is Important: Benefits and Impact on Research 1 — PKP OJS

Consequently, the platform Open Journal System (OJS), Sometimes known as PKP OJS, Public Knowledge Project OJS, or PKP Open Journal System, has become an open-source platform for establishing open-access journals. In the subsequent section, I will discuss OJS in brief.

So, What is Open Journal System (OJS)?

Open Journal Systems (OJS) is an open-source software platform for managing and publishing scholarly journals. The Public Knowledge Project (PKP), a non-profit organization based at Simon Fraser University, British Columbia, Canada, developed it. It is designed to assist with every stage of the journal publishing process, from submission and peer review to archiving and indexing.

OJS provides various tools for editors, authors, and reviewers, including a submission and peer-review system, an editorial workflow, and a publishing platform. It also includes features like indexing, archiving, and multiple languages and currencies support.

The platform is already a home for more than 10000 scholarly open-access journals worldwide. Its open-source nature allows it to be modified per user tests and requirements.

Now that you know about the OJS, let’s address the core part of the discussion in the next section.

Reasons For the Popularity of Open Journal Systems (OJS)?

There are mainly 2 reasons which make Open Journal Systems (OJS) the most popular open-sourced platform for the website of open-access journals. The actual reasons are as follows:

The advanced technology and dedicated domain expertise used to make this enriches the platform with extraordinary features and attributes. Eventually, the robustness gained automatic attention from the relevant user community. Out of many such functionalities, I would like to discuss a few with detailed information in the subsequent section.

Cost-Effective: It is open-source software that is free to use and distribute. “Free” availability is a significant advantage for organizations and individuals who want to launch an open-access journal but may not have the financial resources to purchase proprietary software.

It eliminates the need for costly subscription fees and allows organizations to invest resources in other areas, such as promoting their journal and paying author fees. This cost-effectiveness is particularly beneficial for non-profit organizations, emerging journals, and institutions in developing countries, which may not have the resources to invest in proprietary software.

Feature-Rich: It provides many features for managing and publishing an open-access journal. These features include;

peer-review management,
workflow management,
indexing,
archiving.

It also allows for customization, which means users can tailor the software to their specific needs. This is especially useful for journals that have unique publishing requirements. For example, journals that publish multimedia content or data sets can benefit from OJS’s ability to handle different file formats and embed multimedia content.

Large & Active User Community: It has a large and active user community that provides support and resources for users. This community includes developers, publishers, and researchers who share knowledge, best practices, and solutions to common problems.

Why Open Access Journal is Important: Benefits and Impact on Research 2

The community also organizes regular meetings and events, allowing users to network and learn from one another. The community also provides support and training, which can be particularly valuable for organizations new to open-access publishing.

Compatibility: It is compatible with a wide range of platforms and systems, making it easy to integrate with existing infrastructure. This is particularly useful for organizations with a website or content management system that want to launch an open-access journal.

It can also be integrated with other open-source platforms such as WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal, allowing greater flexibility and scalability.

Customization: It allows for customization of the journal’s layout and design (ojs themes), which allows journals to create a unique online presence that reflects their brand. It also allows journals to add multimedia elements such as videos and images.

Easy Indexing: It is a dedicated platform for online journal management. It has been designed by keeping the guidelines from world-leading indexing agencies like SCOPUS.

As a result, journal owner can easily index their journals with world-renowned indexers by following the strict workflow of the OJS and maintaining the review quality.

Plugins Compatibility: PKP has made this software robust enough to accept extended functionalities in the form of third-party plugins. So many plugins are available which can fulfill the requirements not provided by the default OJS setup.

Frequent OJS Upgrade: Despite being an open-source platform, to accommodate the times and user demands, PKP keeps on providing regular upgrades. upgrades ensure that hosted journals and its database remain secure for longer.

Journal managers can have additional functionalities to meet the readers’ and authors’ needs. To know more about the OJS upgrade. For a detailed description of the upgrade.

Headless Integration: It allows you to combine your existing journal’s website with the new OJS setup. If you want the editorial workflow only with the existing website front end, this can be a scenario with OJS. However, this is an expert task and asks for extra care. Higher expert for the headless integration.

User-Friendly: It is designed to be easy to use, which reduces the need for extensive technical expertise to set up and maintain a journal website. This makes it accessible to many organizations and individuals, including those who may not have a dedicated IT department.

The user-friendly interface allows for easy navigation and management of the journal, which can be particularly valuable for small organizations or journals with limited staff.

Accessibility: It allows for the creation of accessible open-access journal websites; this means that the open-access journal website is accessible to people with disabilities, which is important for ensuring that all members of the public can access and read articles. This is particularly important because many open-access journals are funded by public institutions responsible for ensuring their resources are accessible to everyone.

Scalability: It is designed to handle a wide range of publishing models, from small journals with limited articles to large journals with thousands of articles.

This scalability allows organizations to start small and grow their open-access journal as needed. It also allows for multiple languages and character sets, which makes it an ideal choice for journals that publish articles in multiple languages.

All these factors combined make It an attractive option for launching and managing an open-access journal. With its cost-effectiveness, feature-rich functionality, large and active user community, compatibility, user-friendliness, and accessibility, It is a powerful tool for making scientific research widely available to the public.

Well-organized Editorial & Publishing Workflow is the most important aspect of any Open-access journal. The detail of each step has been furnished in a subsequent section.

The editorial workflow in OJS begins with submitting an article by an author. The submission is then assigned to an editor, who reviews the article and decides whether it should be sent out for peer review. If the editor determines that the article is suitable for publication, they will assign it to one or more reviewers for evaluation.

Why Open Access Journal is Important: Benefits and Impact on Research 3

The peer review process in OJS is double-blind, meaning that the author’s and the reviewers’ identities are kept anonymous. Open-access journal Reviewers are given a set of guidelines and criteria to evaluate the article and provide feedback and recommendations to the editor.

The editor can then decide whether to accept, reject, or revise the article based on the feedback from the reviewers.

If the article is accepted, it is sent to the copyediting stage. The article is reviewed for grammar, spelling, and style in this stage, and any necessary revisions are made.

The author can then review their article’s copyedited version and make any final revisions.

After the copyediting stage, the article is sent to the layout and proofreading stage. The article is formatted and prepared for publication at this stage, and any final errors are caught and corrected.

Finally, the article is published online in the journal. OJS allows for a variety of publishing options, including immediate or delayed open access, and also allows for archiving and preservation of published content.

Overall, OJS’s editorial and publishing workflow is designed to be efficient, transparent, and fair. It allows for effective management of the review, editing, and publishing process and provides a high level of control and flexibility for editors and authors.

Are you looking for new journal hosting on OJS? Book a free Consultation.

Get OJS Services

Conclusion

In conclusion, OJS is a powerful and versatile platform that has become the preferred choice for many organizations and individuals looking to establish open-access journals. Its open-source nature, wide range of features, active user community, compatibility, and accessibility make it an ideal choice for those looking to make scientific research more widely available to the public.

Tags DOI, OJS, OJS 3.3.0-13, OJS features, Open Journal System, PKP, publication, Research

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What is Open Access Journal Publishing?

Post author By Varun Patel
Post date January 19, 2023
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Open-Access-Journal-Publishing

You might have often heard the group of words “open access journal publishing” if you are related to the education or research field. Nowadays, people talk about the free resources for knowledge as the Internet makes the normal human being very addicted to knowing something new. Earlier, the knowledgeable contents were not free to access, but now people understand the power of making this content free for the general population.

These opening remarks lead us to the question: How can we answer the question? What is open access journal publishing? or what is an open-access journal? So, tighten your seatbelt; I will take you on a ride in the deep sea of the open-access world.

So, What is Open Access?

Anything which doesn’t require any prior permission, license, subscription, or fee payment is called open access. In simple language, the content which is open access is free to consume. In other words, you can say that it is a way of conveying information (in digital form) free of cost via the Internet.

For example, when you surf the Internet for knowledge hunting, you find two kinds of web pages. The first type may ask for a payment, some authentication, or a subscription to allow you to access the content. The second type doesn’t ask for fees or a subscription but directly allows you to access the content. The latter type is called open-access content.

Open-access word is much more prevalent in research publications or scholarly literature. The scholarly articles are open access and can be accessed without any payment over the Internet. The primary form factor of open-access content is digital, which is accessible on the Internet. The subsequent section will focus on the purpose of open access, which will clarify your understanding.

What is the purpose of open access journal publishing?

The primary purpose of open access journal publishing is to maximize the availability of research documentation, usually in research articles, book reviews, book chapters, or recorded communication regarding novel fact findings. The idea of open access journal publishing has erupted from the matured understandings which emphasize the belief that knowledge gained from public efforts must be freely accessible. It will not be cliche to say that publishing open-access content is a noble cause and indirectly affects millions.

What are the types of open access journal publishing or mode of open access journal publishing?

It has been divided into three categories. Each has been explained below;

Green Open Access

This mode of open access is closely coupled with the author’s intention. Intention means; whether authors are willing to put/archive their accepted research article(s) to their institutional repositories or other open-access sites. This arrangement empowers the authors to make the last version of their research paper available, even though it has been published in subscription-based journals.

Gold Open Access

This mode may give you a setback after knowing that it involves some form of cost to authors for open publishing access. However, this may provide immediate online access to the published article on the publisher’s website. Publishers following this mode demand payment as processing charges. In this mode, the author must assign the publishers a copyright.

Hybrid Open Access

This mode involves the working principle from the above-discussed categories. An author can put their contents in open-access journals for availing to other readers.

I think you are well aware of “open access.” So, without wasting much time, let’s jump into the core part of this blog, which is all about open-access journals & open-access journal publishing.

What is an open-access journal?

Don’t expect any contradictory definition of the real meaning of open access. To define this term, rewrite the term as “open access to the journal.” You will have the definition automatically by putting the meaning of open access in the first place and the meaning of journal in the second place. Still, if you are confused, read the paragraph below for the exact words.

Definition of open access journal: Journals (collections of well-formatted and expert-reviewed research articles written by academics, research scholars, industry experts, or professors) that do not require any prerequisite (in the form of paid subscription or license) for accessing the inside articles are called open-access journals or open access journal publishing

Journals having open access are not just free to read. Instead, the contents of such journals are also immune from most copyright and licensing restrictions. Anyone can have the reference of these articles for their future works.

Open access journal publishing contents are open to all research communities and normal human beings. You are not required to purchase a subscription or any special license to access the published research articles in such journals. The most beautiful thing about these categories of journals is that they are “free.”

open access journal publishing contents were not very popular as there were no dedicated online infrastructures. Journals were in print form only. However, after the entrance of the Internet, many publishers have developed open access journal publishing websites. open access journal publishing contents can be accessed by anyone having a good internet connection. So, you might be clear now that this is a very generous arrangement to accelerate the research and development by subtracting the cost hurdles.

Recently, research funding agencies (mainly controlled by the national administration) are compressing researchers to make their findings open because the funding received from tax money should be reverted with positive outcomes.

What is the purpose of open access journal?

Researchers from many countries across the globe do not have the same financial support to afford the high subscription rates of closed-access journals. Due to this limitation, many good research scholars find it difficult to access others’ scholarly content and their relevant fields’ novel findings. In the research world, the word “reference” matters a lot. By referring to others’ research work, researchers can get handsome help in their tasks.

To overcome the above-cited problem, open access journal publishing has emerged. This journal believes that knowledge derived from public funding must be freely accessible to all researchers. The other reason open access journal publishing gained popularity is that publicly funded research works become very easy to access. The statement, as mentioned earlier, makes them more likely to be downloaded, read, and cited.

What is the importance of open access journal publishing?

What we are today is only and only due to research, directly or indirectly—for example, our great fathers used to eat raw meat for survival. Still, eventually, medical science evolved, and via rigorous research/observations, we concluded that cooked stuff is way more beneficial to the human body and easy to digest. This is just a small example of the impact of research on human life. I can write a whole essay on this.

By the above discussion, there is no doubt that research is a nonneglectable part of our life to make our routine life more sustainable and prosperous. So, the journal’s open access brings this even further by allowing free access to research articles.

For most junior-level researchers, open access journal publishing allows them to take advantage of published scholarly work from experienced and expert researchers around the globe.

From the author’s point of view, an article published in open access journal publishing gets more attention from citations worldwide as it is open to all. This also works as a motivation factor for contributing more in relevant fields. Furthermore, a higher number of citations can lead to a swelling number of inter researchers’ communication, making it even more fruitful for new directions.

How can I find open access journal publishing websites?

Online directories are available to find open access journal publishing relevant to your research fields. These directories have a well-organized list of the journal with all details of volume and issues. However, make sure about the indexing status of these journals before publishing your articles. These directories will work as a one-stop solution for finding open access journal publishing websites. Famous players of this game are:

Directory of Open Access Journals >> (sometimes referred to as the open access journals directory or DOAJ.)
International Scientific Indexing >>
BEALL’S LIST >> (List of Publishers)
Hindawi Publication >>

What are the open-access journals which have no publication fee for authors?

Finding an open-access journal that publishes the article for free is very tough and time-consuming. However, you may find such open-access journals via ISI . In ISI, you will have all journals’ categories. First, select the journals of your concern field and get the publisher details. Then, insert this publisher detail in BEALL’S LIST . While researching this type of journal, please read the authors’ section carefully. By this methodology, you might find a journal that accepts free publication.

One another way to find such journals is to visit the directory of open-access journals; You can follow below given steps:

Go to DOAJ
Enter your discipline or keywords in the Search box to search for journal titles.
On the results page, choose “Without article processing charges (APCs)” on the left.

Who can start open-access journal publishing?

Any individual, institution, organization, NGO, national body, group of individuals or academician can start their open-access journal. There are no such difficult criteria to the full fill as a prerequisite for establishing the new open-access journals. The only requirement is that you have will power to start it; resources needed for the journal will be automatically prompted in front of you.

Would you like to start your own journal? Click here to make your journal website live in 2 weeks.

Start Open Access Journal >>

What is the process of starting a new open-access journal?

To start a new open-access journal, you need basic things, which I have listed below in a step-by-step manner. If you acquire all these details well in advance, then any journal hosting service provider can establish your journal in 2-3 weeks. However, ISSN and indexing can take much time, depending upon which country you are in. So read each step carefully.

Steps for open access journal publishing Setup

Finding out the name of the journal and the area of research.
Obtain the ISSN for the journal.
Find an excellent editorial team.
Automated website with SMS, email support, and online publication.
Define all policies about an open journal system.
Licensing and indexing open journal system.
Advertise your journal.

Is there any open-source platform for open-access journals?

One world-renowned open-source platform is the “open journal system (OJS).” This platform allows anyone to start their journal website with readily available journal architecture and workflow. This platform already hosts more than 25000 open access journals. So, if you host your journal on this platform, you will get free popularity along with the overall workflow per the guidelines of leading indexing agencies like SCOPUS.

OJS allows us to manage, review, and organize all scientific content for later publication. Everything is handled by an editor located in servers to manage the contents better. It is also a system that helps to train people so that they can step by step assemble their journals in a very professional way. This is also important if you consider all the guidelines by Scopus and WOS. All these are the protocols to follow to take a scientific journal from 0 to publication and its ISSN.

What if I don’t know about the journal website development on OJS?

Don’t worry; all the researchers need not know the website development technologies like HTML, CSS, Javascript, etc. Researchers from non-IT backgrounds may find this task difficult.

To overcome the above-cited problem, you may hire a tech company with expertise in open journal system (OJS) hosting and setup. However, you need to pay the relevant remuneration. In addition, these service providers often offer fully customized OJS themes, which can make your journal website stand out from the crowd. On the contrary, you need to pay hefty charges for these add-ons. If you are not ready to pay an additional amount, you can go for the default OJS themes.

Conclusion:

To summarize, I would say that the open-access movement is a blessing for the research community worldwide. Publishing your article in open-access journals can attract more attention from other researchers. All in all, open-access journals can contribute a lot to improving human life. In my opinion, all academicians should start their journals alone or in a group.

Tags "open access to journals directory of open access journals open access journal publishing publishing open access journal open access", DOAJ, journal open access, OJS, open access journal, Open Journal System, PKP, publication, publishing open access, Research, Research Paper

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OJS Features for Open Access Journal

Post author By Varun Patel
Post date January 17, 2023
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Top-OJS-Fetures-2023

The Internet has disrupted our life, specifically in “How we access information?”. Open access journal is not immune to this groundbreaking innovation. Research is a field that is largely affected by the WWW. Documentation of the novel findings or alteration suggestions in existing findings is changed entirely. Open Journal System (OJS) has provided tremendous capabilities to its user for establishing the open access journal website in 2-3 weeks.

Entry of the OJS into the WWW makes the research digitization very efficient and manageable. As a result, many like to have these research articles at their fingertips, which means in the form of journal websites, specifically open-access journals. Access to research documentation in the form of a research article has become much easier than 10 years ago.

Therefore, we cannot overlook the open access journal’s website performance and features. In this blog, I would like to discuss the most important features provided by Open Journal System (OJS) to host open access journal websites.

Before moving into the discussion, I would like to spare some time for the elephant in the room, an “open access journal.” If you are new to the research world, you might not have heard about this group of words before. So, please read the below section to understand the background theory well so that advanced learnings become very easy.

What is an open access journal?

Anything which doesn’t require any prior permission, license, subscription, or fee payment is called open access. The same phenomenon is applied to put this into the perspective of open-access journals.

Open access journals are open to all research communities and normal human beings. To access the published research articles in such journals, you are not required to purchase a subscription or any special license. The most beautiful thing about these categories of journals is that they are “free.”

Note: Open-access journals are free for readers; however, they can charge some amount for publishing the articles.

Open access journals were not very popular as there were no dedicated online infrastructures. Journals were in print form only. However, after the entrance of the Internet, many publishers have developed open-access journal websites. In continuation, I would add that Open Journal System (OJS) is a robust open-sourced platform to establish such open access journals website quickly.

Open-access journals website can be accessed by anyone having a good internet connection. So, you might be clear now that this is a very generous arrangement to accelerate the research and development by subtracting the cost hurdles.

Top Features of the Open Journal System (OJS):

1. Efficient OJS Themes:

With the recent upgrade, OJS has ready-to-use themes with endless color options. These themes are not just about looks but also agile in performance. These themes will allow you to set up your journal website quickly. Drag and drop facility is there for you in case you need to be made aware of HTML and CSS. Earlier themes were not easy to change as they required many template files. A recent upgrade has solved this problem by making template files stand alone. Get exciting OJS Themes

Apart from the basic layout, the latest OJS allows customizing the theme per the individual test and requirements. Many OJS hosting service providers are available who can help you make your journal website more interactive and user-friendly with full customization.

2. Responsive Nature of OJS Theme

As mobile phone becomes the mode of internet access, the OJS website is no exception. Many researchers love accessing such websites via mobile phones, tablets, or handheld devices. These devices are of different screen sizes. So to put this variable display environment, OJS has provided responsive layout themes.

3. Fragmented and Bifurcated stepwise procedure

The entire workflow has been divided into small parts, making it easy to work with and manage. Primarily this division consists of Accommodation {where novel requirements are entertained by affirmation or negation}, Survey {where peers check the content and revert to the creators so that they can edit the content} and Copyediting{where foreseen contents are stored for the final revision and ready to enter into the production}.

The great thing about the above-discussed steps is that each step can be accessed individually and left to visit, which means jumping the sequence. This edition allows you to enroll the creator at any step for proper correction.

4. Dynamic User Swap

Generally, software systems are of a nature in which they do not allow the user role to change without reentering the credentials. OJS, on the other hand, allows you to change the user if you have logged in with the master credentials. This facility is very convenient for changing roles and doing tasks with rapid response. For example, you can become a reviewer and journal manager in one login. You do not require to log out from the system to change the role.

5. Interaction regarding publication

As you know, OJS has divided the entire journal management task into various stages: Accommodation, Survey, copyediting, and production. The different user roles can collaborate via a simple messaging system during this phase. Apart from this, robust email facilities are also there for logging activity status. Peers can review each other’s work and comment also. This facility ensures that each stakeholder can take an interest in all activities. This is possible only and only due to the OJS new theme advancement.

6. Simple Registration

Enrolling in a new user’suser’s biome is very easy with this upgrade. The new registration form includes very few and extremely important fields to be filled in by the user. The user with no extra information can fill out this form. It can be submitted with handy or memorized basic information. After the form submission, new clients are informed via well formatted prescribed email.

7. Easy Task Assignment Mechanism

Another significant benefit of OJS is that you can swap between two different users who are experts. Swapping is straightforward, and configuration options are available in the left sidebar. As a result, it has made the assignment of dual obligations easier.

Upgrade to the latest OJS 3.3.0-13 for New Features

You might be running a journal website on old OJS, so you might not have the new features. I request you upgrade your OJS to the latest OJS 3.3.0-13. Ensure you take enough care during the upgrade because an OJS upgrade is complex and demands expertise. One should take a full system backup before upgrading because sometimes the upgrade may go wrong, and data can be lost. If possible, then higher experts for OJS upgrade.

We at OJSCloud provide end to end hosting solutions for open access journal on OJS.

Start Journal

Conclusion

To wind up the discussion, I would definitely rate the current OJS version along with the discussed features on the higher side of the weight scale, as it provides extraordinary functionalities for the user. All the discussed functionality make the journal management task very efficient. I recommend upgrading to this version to maximize the new features.

Tags OJS, OJS 2023, OJS features, Open Journal System, PKP, publication, Research, Research Paper, upgrade

Uncategorized

How to Deposit Crossref DOI?

Post author By Varun Patel
Post date January 16, 2023
No Comments on How to Deposit Crossref DOI?

Deposit DOI in Crossref

If you are reading this blog, you might be intending to know how DOI can be generated for research articles or any digital object. If this is not the case, you might be landed on this page to learn about the DOI or to know what is doi. For the second case, I suggest you visit my detailed blog, which emphasizes “What is DOI?“. By reading this blog, your entire idea regarding DOI will be 100% cleared.

In the subsequent section to just get a basic idea about what is DOI to be clear, I am giving an introduction on what is DOI within 4-5 sentences. Please read it first so that you can understand the concept of “what is DOI” and then go for the actual steps.

In brief: What is DOI?

A Digital Object Identifier is a unique alphanumeric string assigned to a digital object, such as a journal article, book, or dataset. This string provides a persistent link to the digital object, ensuring it can be found and accessed even if the web address or URL changes. This string consists of a prefix and a suffix, separated by a forward slash, that identifies the object and provides a link to it. For example, the Digital Object Identifier for the article might look like https://doi.org/10.2354/s00369-030-05722-z. Now I think you have enough idea about what is DOI. I am sure that now you can take part in any discussion regarding what is done.

If you already know what is DOI?, let’s directly move on to the DOI deposition steps. The reason for discussing what is doi? in detail was necessary to clear your idea. I would only discuss the steps of generating DOI with Crossref throughout this blog. I have taken one journal article as a digital object for which I will generate the DOI. Before proceeding with the actual process steps, let’s discuss a few prerequisites in the next section.

Prerequisites

For depositing the DOI, you need to have either of below stated two types of associations with the Crossref. We can also name these associations as a type of user account opened with the Crossref. You are also required to know what is doi?

How to Deposit Crossref DOI? 4 — Crossref Memberships

Association Type – 1: Independent membership

To apply as an independent member, kindly click on the link https://www.crossref.org/_apply/member/ . Then, follow the instructions and insert the relevant information in the prescribed format.

How to Deposit Crossref DOI? 5 — **Independent membership** application

This association will cost you on the higher side. You must pay USD 275/Year to Crossref for this membership. For more detail on the pricing, I am penning down the link here; please click on it:https://www.crossref.org/fees/#annual-membership-fees/

How to Deposit Crossref DOI? 6 — Crossref Membership Fees

The time taken to open this account will require too much time. It also requires submitting a lot of documents as well. All in all, this is a complex and time-consuming task. Therefore, I suggest you go for this association with Crossref only if you have higher DOI requirements. Otherwise, go for the second option stated below.

Association Type – 2: Membership via a Sponsor

In case of a few or occasional DOI requirements, I suggest you go for the membership via sponsors. But you may ask a question: how can I find such Crossref Sponsors? To solve this problem, I am giving you the link to find the Crossref Sponsors from your local region: https://www.crossref.org/membership/about-sponsors/.

If you are searching for an official sponsored Crossref partner in India, Sequence R&D is a well-known solution provider. For more details regarding DOI pricing, please click below.

Get DOI >>

These official Crossref-sponsored partners are eligible to enroll members beneath their sponsorship. However, they can charge you for applying via them to Crossref. The charges may vary depending on the region or members to members.

How to Deposit Crossref DOI? 7 — Crossref Membership under the Sponsored Partner

Approaching steps for applying under a sponsored member

Contact sponsored members via email and brief them on your requirements.
Give them exact numbers of DOI requirements along with the type of digital objects.
Sponsored members revert with pricing and annual subscription charges.
Upon positive confirmation from your end as well as sponsored members’ end, the sponsored member will ask for further detailed relevant information about your journal or another digital object.
The sponsored member will apply for your membership and will receive your Crossref user account credentials. After which, you will be provided with a username and password for your Crossref account. Keep this username and password safe and secure because you will need this while generating the DOI for your digital objects.

Step-by-Step Guide: For Depositing DOI in Crossref

To deposit/generate the DOI for a particular article or entire volume, please follow the below-mentioned steps. For reference purposes, we have created the DOI for the following digital object.

Journal Volume: Jorangrau April-June 2022

Weblink of Digital Object: http://jorangrau.org/archives/jorangrau-april-june-2022/

Step-1: Collect Journal & Article Information as shown in the sample screenshot.

Step-1.1: Journal Information

Title: THE JOURNAL OF RESEARCH ANGRAU
Abbr: JORANGRAU
Journal DOI: You Can Skip
Journal URL: You Can Skip
Print ISSN: 0970-0226
Elect ISSN: You Can Skip
Volume: 50
Issue: 02
Issue DOI: You Can Skip
Issue URL: You Can Skip
Type Print (Date): Year: 2022 | Month: 09 | Day: 01
Type Online (Date): You Can Skip

Mandatory Data Required for the Journal

Journal Title
Journal Abbreviation
One ISSN (Print or Electronic)
A Publication Year (Print or Electronic)

Step-1.2: Article Information

Article Title: BIOEFFICACY OF Metarhizium (Nomuraea) rileyi ON PROTEIN PROFILE DURING EMBRYOGENESIS OF Helicoverpa armigera (HUBNER)
Author 1 First Name: A. M.
Author 1 Last Name: MOMIN
Author 1 Organization: P.G. Department of Zoology, Yashavantrao Chavan Institute of Science, Shivaji University, Kolhapur- 416 012
Author 2 First Name: S. P.
Author 2 Last Name: NALAWADE
Author 2 Organization: P.G. Department of Zoology, Yashavantrao Chavan Institute of Science, Shivaji University, Kolhapur- 416 012
Abstract: Entamopathogenic fungi, Metarhizium rileyi is one of the promising alternative over chemical insecticides for the management of a most serious polyphagus pest, H. armigera. Metarhizium rileyi was tested for their median lethal concentrations (LC50) and qualitative proteins against Helicoverpa armigera was carried out at Research laboratory, P.G. Department of Zoology, YashvantaraoChavan Institute of Science,Sataraunder Shivaji University, Kolhapur in 2019.
DOI*: 10.58537/angrau2 (This will become the DOI for this article. Note: after your dedicated prefix you can write your choice of word. For example you can write 10.58537/angrau33_research-article).
URL*: http://jorangrau.org/archives/jorangrau-april-june-2022/ Note: This is the web link (URL) of the article/volume page for which you are depositing/generating DOI.
First Page: 1 (First Page of the Article in volume)
Last Page: 9 (Last Page of the Article in volume)

Mandatory Data Required for the Article

A deposit must include at least one article.
Article Title
Article DOI
Article URL

Step-2: Fill out the Web Deposit Form

Click on the URL https://apps.crossref.org/webDeposit/ (of Crossref web deposit form). Now you will see the DOI web deposit form as shown in the screenshot.

Step-2.1: Use the collected information in Step-1.1 to fill this form and click on the button “Add Articles”.

Step-2.2: Now article information form will be opened. Use the collected information in Step-1.2 to fill out this form. Then click on the button “Finish”. See the below given screenshot for better clarity.

Step-3: Use your login credentials

Now you will be redirected to the Crossref user login page. Insert concerned credentials, received from your sponsored agency and log in.

Step-4: Provide Your Email ID

Insert desired email id and click on deposit. Make sure to use an email id ending with “@gmail.com” or “@yahoo.com”. Because the system will not accept other email id formats like “.ac.in”. Click on the button “Deposit“.

Step-5: Final Check for DOI

Your DOI has been generated which you provided during the article information insertion in Step-2.2. To check whether the generated DOI is working or not follow the below steps:

Copy DOI links 10.58537/angrau2 and Paste it into the new tab.
Write “doi.org/” before 10.58537/angrau2.
Which will make your entire link look like this: doi.org/10.58537/angrau2 and press enter.
Now you will see your article or whole volume.

Step-6: Check Your Provided Email

Check your provided email inbox in Step-4 for the confirmation and XML file. You will get 2 separate emails.

Complete Video Guide for Depositing DOI in Crossref.

How to deposit Crossref DOI? How to generate Crossref DOI? https://www.ojscloud.com/

Conclusion

In today’s digital age, where the amount of research and data being produced is constantly increasing, a DOI has become an essential tool for researchers, publishers, and institutions to manage their scholarly content effectively. So, everyone needs to know what is doi. By assigning a DOI, authors can ensure their work is accessible, discoverable, and easily cited, thus enhancing its impact and facilitating its dissemination. Overall, understanding what is DOI and how to deposit it in Crossref can make a significant difference in the success and visibility of scholarly work.

Tags crossref, Digital Object Identifier, DOI, OJS

Uncategorized

How to Upgrade Open Journal System from OJS 3.x to OJS 3.3.0-13

Post author By Varun Patel
Post date January 10, 2023
No Comments on How to Upgrade Open Journal System from OJS 3.x to OJS 3.3.0-13

How to upgrade OJS?

Welcome to the step-by-step guide for Upgrade Open Journal System (OJS) version 3. x to OJS-3.3.0-13. This process requires a lot of care, time, and patience as it involves much complexity. An expert must do this upgrade, as you might need some help. There are many chances of losing valuable information, so I urge you to hire an expert agency with good experience in this field.

Prerequisite: Have you gone through the head-to-tail of my other blog on the “What is Open Journal System (OJS) upgrade? Why upgrade is necessary for the Open Journal System (OJS)?” Because this blog contains all the basic understandings needed for the upgrade. So please go through it and come back here.

Steps for Open Journal System upgrade from OJS 3.x to OJS 3.3.0-13

Step-1

Take Full Backup: Copy all the directories (Open Journal System Files Folder, Public Folder, Current database) of the existing Open Journal System and store them well for full backups. The backup will be crucial if anything goes wrong in the upgrade process. Because Open Journal System upgrade is a process having a higher rate of failure.

Step-2

Download the Latest version Folder. You can visit the website:https://pkp.sfu.ca/software/ojs/download/, (and directly jump onto the step-3, you can skip step-2.1 to step-2.6) or you can do this from your website’s back panel. Please follow the below screenshot for the process.

Step-2.1: Log in to your back panel and go to the “Dashboard“.

Step-2.2: Click on “Administration” in the left corner.

OJS Upgrade

Step-2.3: Click on “System Information”.

OJS Upgrade

Step-2.4: Now you can check your current version and click “check for the updates“.

OJS Upgrade

Step-2.5: Click on “download” to get the latest Open Journal System version zip folder.

OJS Upgrade

Step-2.6: This step will take you to the website of PKP, where you can download the latest Open Journal System version by clicking on the below-stated button.

OJS Upgrade

Step-3

Extract the downloaded Folder. In our case, that Folder will be default named “ojs-3.3.0-13“. You can change the name of the Folder, but keep it as it is because it will be easy to identify it as the latest version’s Folder.

Step-4

Upload the extracted Folder (ojs-3.3.0-13 in step-3) to the concerned server where your Open Journal System website is being hosted.

Step-5

Bring from OLD and Put it new Folder: Bring the following two things from the old backup (created in step-1): (1) config.inc.php (2) public/ and upload the above two things to the new version folder (named ojs-3.3.0-13 in step-3).

Step-6

Alter, one file settings in a new Folder:

For this, do as directed below:

Find “config.inc.php” file.
In this file, find “General Settings”.
Find installed = On and replace with installed = Off.
Save this file.
See the below screenshot for better clarity.

OJS Upgrade: config.inc.php file change

Step-7

Go to your journal’s website, where you will find below mentioned text along with one hyperlink. “If you are upgrading an existing installation of OJS, click here to proceed.” Please click on the words “click here”.

Now wait for the message given below: “Upgrade of the Open Journal System to version 3.3.0-13 has been completed successfully” (it might take 20-30 minutes to pop. Depending upon the size of your database)

Step-8

Alter one file set in a new Folder:

For this, do as directed below:

Find “config.inc.php” file.
In this file, find “General Settings”.
Find installed = Off and replace with installed = On,
Save this file.
See the below screenshot for better clarity.

Step-9

Task Completed:

Congratulations…..!!!! Your Open Journal System has been upgraded to version OJS 3.3.0-13. You can check by refollowing step 2.4

Note: Above mentioned steps do not promise a successful upgrade. You might face trouble upgrading if you have installed a customized theme and plugin. These steps are derived from the actual documentation of the Open Journal System. You are requested to higher expert for this task. In case of any destruction to your database, I am not liable for that.

Precaution Steps for Open Journal System upgrade:

(a) Find the perfect time to upgrade

In a software world, the upgrade is an ongoing process. As a result, PKP continuously releases new minor versions of OJS. It is not advisable that each time you need to keep on updating the OJS each day because it is a time-consuming and complex task. So to solve this confusion, one should keep track of new features available in new releases. Analyze your requirements against the newly released features; if those are necessary, please go for them. However, security point of view, you should upgrade at least once a year.

(b) Check plugins & important features Compatibility

At the time of the upgrade, ensure that any plugin important to your user is compatible with the OJS 3. If not, you need to wait until the new bug-free version of OJS has been released. Because some of the immediate new version releases may not support all plugins, this care is not only limited to the plugins but must also be kept in mind for other essential features. So it is better to chat with editorial teams before going for an upgrade.

(c) Which version to go for? (i.e. OJS 3.1.0, OJS 3.2.0, or OJS 3.1.0-1; OJS 3.2.0-1)

Generally, it is good to go for the latest version. On the contrary, you must know the type of the latest version. Is it a major or minor update release? Because if you go for the immediate major release, it might contain some bugs, which will be addressed during the subsequent minor release. So my advice is to always go for the latest minor release.

(d) Making Aware the editorial team and other concerns

As this upgrade procedure will affect many areas, relevant entities must be aware of this for a seamless user experience. Before the upgrade announces, all involved parties, like an editorial team, editors, and section editors, must be aware of the upgrade procedure. Though the reviewer and author will not face significant issues with the upgrade.

(e) Make necessary changes to the server to meet the requirements of OJS 3.

You need to focus on the below-mentioned requirements. These have been generated by PKP from users’ feedback, so you may need some extras apart from the below-mentioned.

PHP >= 7.2
MySQL >= 4.1
PostgreSQL >= 9.1.5
Apache >= 1.3.2x or >= 2.0.4x
Microsoft IIS 6
Operating system: Any OS that supports the above software, including Linux, BSD, Solaris, Mac OS X, Windows

(f) Prepare a list of items automatically moving to the new version or requiring manual efforts.

Submissions
Users
Roles/Permission setting
Announcements
Sections
The following items will need manual efforts for moving to OJS 3:
Journal Information – Masthead, Editorial Team, Permissions, etc.
Customizations – CSS, images, color codes
Journal setup settings and textual information
Plugins
Pages/ Menus
Links
Files
Customized email templates
Reviewer Forms
Custom blocks
PDF uploads

(g) Deletion of the existing database.

This step will wipe out all spam users. So take this as an opportunity to clean up unwanted users from the database. You can manually identify the spam users present in your system by SQL query. This query utilizes email domains fetched during the new user registration.

(h) Perform sandbox testing.

A sandbox is an isolated testing environment that enables users to run programs or open files without affecting the application, system, or platform on which they run. The upgrade task is very intensive, so it is better to be double-sure before going to the war zone.

(i) Evaluate, test, and troubleshoot your sandbox OJS 3 site

This is the right time to test the website involving all stakeholders (Journal Managers, Editors, and Section Editors) in a secure environment. Collect the feedback from the users and, if necessary, go back to the drawing board for changes. This is where you can test the workflow and train the stakeholders.

(j) Adjust your theme (If the custom theme is applied)

After the upgrade, it is most important to check the applied theme. Because the older version theme might not work correctly in the new OJS 3, I suggest checking for the OJS 3 themes to overcome this option.

Please click below to book an appointment for an OJS upgrade.

Upgrade your OJS >>

Tags OJS, OJS 3.3.0-13, OJS 3.x, OJS upgarde, OJS version, Research, Research Paper, upgrade

Uncategorized

What is a Free Open Journal System (OJS) Upgrade?

Post author By Varun Patel
Post date January 9, 2023
No Comments on What is a Free Open Journal System (OJS) Upgrade?

What-is-OJS-Upgrade

Open Journal System (OJS) is an open-source software, developed by Public Knowledge Project (PKP). This journal management system gaining enormous popularity in the last 7-8 years. Many research scholars and renowned institutes throughout the world use this open-source software for accessing open-access journals. It would not be cliche to cite here that the Open Journal System is the home of more than 10000 open-access journals.

So, by looking at its serving volume and popularity it is in the list of giant software systems like Dspace. Looking at this giant software architecture it definitely requires the addition of new features in form of upgrades.

This article will answer all your queries regarding the Open Journal System (OJS) upgrade, and throw light on the importance of upgrading the Open Journal System (OJS) version along with the upgrade procedure of Open Journal System (OJS). So, tighten your seat belt and have an exciting journey in the world of Open Journal System (OJS) upgrades.

So, What is Open Journal System (OJS) upgrade?

OJS Upgrade is a process of migrating from the older version to the latest version, to make the hosted websites function very well in the area of security, reliability, responsiveness, GUI, and communication.

The main focus of the upgrade procedure is always better security and reliability. Shortly, you can say that this is the exercise to keep the system up to date for upcoming challenges and demands.

Click below to book an appointment for an OJS upgrade.

Book an Appointment

Why upgrade is necessary for the Open Journal System (OJS)?

As we know that software is a thing that cannot be delivered in one go. The software requires constant feedback from the possessors or relevant user communities. The upgrade is very important for any software system in order to keep on user engagement for a longer period.

For Security

The most important aspect of upgrading any software is security concerns. Security is the most talked about topic in recent eras as far as World Wide Web (WWW) is concerned.

As your software grows in terms of active user base it also grabs the attention of the dark web practitioners, known as crackers (unethical hackers). As discussed in the preamble of this article, OJS is gaining popularity as the research industry grows. It has more than 10000 active open-access journals. Many hosted journals involve financial transactions for publishing work. So the risk is very high if the system is not up to date. In order to make the system tough enough it required frequent care in analyzing the threats and effective protection against them.

For New Functionality

As time passes by the user of the system needs something extra from the existing system. Adding new features which were not there at the time of the earlier version release, requires frequent upgrades. Such upgrades increase the usability of the system at a very rapid pace.

For Website Performance

As the number of users and data grows, it hinders the overall performance of the hosted journal websites. Nowadays, nobody like slow software which takes more than 5 seconds to load the pages. If your system keeps on underperforming in the area of response time, that might happen you will lose your user base. To make it responsive OJS keeps on upgrading its structure and tries to make it optimized.

For Efficient GUI

As Open Journal System (OJS) is not software that is only developed for information technocrats, it has a larger user base from a nontechnical background as well, like the Field of Medicine, Field of Education, etc. Such nontechnical use needs a user-friendly and nonredundant Graphical User Interface, which makes their relevant task very easy. Such efficient GUI required rigorous efforts and frequent upgrades to the system based on user experience and feedback.

For enhanced Compatibility

Open Journal System (OJS) setup is server intensive job. Simply speaking, Open Journal System (OJS) needs to talk with the server environment frequently. The technology used on the server side keeps on upgrading very often. To match the steps with such a frequently upgrading server environment Open Journal System (OJS) itself requires to be up to date.

What care should be taken during the Open Journal System (OJS) upgrade?

Upgrading Open Journal System (OJS) is not as easy as upgrading a WordPress website. This upgrade procedure just does not involve clicking a single “upgrade” button. It is an expert task and needs extra care before going for the step. There is a scope of marginal error that can ruin your hard work by corrupting structural files or publishing articles. To avoid any mishap, the below-listed area must be taken into account while upgrading.

Complete backup of database and essential files.
Selection of correct timings, as it might take 1-2 days.
Making aware the users for not accepting any workflow during the upgrade.
Post-upgrade testing and troubleshooting.
Open Journal System (OJS) login must be disabled to avoid any ambiguity between the current instance and the upgraded one.
Installed plugins may lose compatibility with earlier versions. So better to check it after the upgrade.
Choose the web-based method to upgrade only if your database is less than 300 MB and you have access to CPanel. Otherwise, go for a command-based system.
Use staging servers for the process.

Generic Steps for Open Journal System (OJS) upgrade:

1. Set Environment Variables
2. Enter Maintenance Mode
3. Create Backups
4. Create a Sandbox
5. Download the Release Package
6. Check System Requirements
7. Install Release Package
8. Run the Upgrade
9. Remove Maintenance Mode
10. Test the Upgrade
11. Restore Custom Plugins
12. Cleanup Backup Files

Why do you need to upgrade OJS 2 to OJS 3?

Since the inception of OJS, PKP has released two major versions that are OJS 2.x and OJS 3.x. Currently, both versions are doing extremely well in terms of managing scholarly research work publications throughout the world.

As you know, current circumstances demand constant upgrades and novelty in each thing. So that OJS is not the exception over here. The developer of OJS, known as the Public Knowledge Project (PKP) keeps on pushing the boundaries of OJS to meet the user’s demands.

In continuation, I would say PKP is pouring the new features and functionalities in OJS in form of frequent upgrades. As a result in recent times (the year 2022), the new version, OJS 3.x has been released with great features and enhanced security functions. So, to take the advantage of the new add-ons everyone must need to upgrade from the older version to the latest.

Upgrade OJS 3.X to OJS 3.3.0-13 >>

You might ask a question:

If OJS 2 is working perfectly fine, then why should I move on to OJS 3? Your question is not at the wrong place, as a counterargument, I would like to add that, OJS 2 is lacking in many areas such as look and feel, security, and functionality.

If you do not migrate to the latest version, you will not be able to enjoy the extra benefits from the latest offerings of OJS 3. For better clarity please refer subsequent section that describes the additional features and benefits provided by OJS 3.

What are the features provided by OJS version 3 and 3.2.x compared to OJS 2.x?

Existing OJS users are more comfortable with OJS 3.
OJS management feature
Flexible editorial workflow
Author Plugins also recommend this upgrade.
Support a “draft” option for reviews.
Easy compatibility with third-party plugins.
New default themes
Statistics reports
More responsive in terms of page loading speed and mobile-friendly.
Author records can be deleted very easily by submission deletion.
Multilingual author name support
Support for thematic collections or categories of articles
Submissions from removed journals can be counted.

Important: Things to consider before upgrading OJS 2 to OJS 3 :

The OJS 2 Theme or the design template you used before, may no longer support the latest OJS version
Some plugins no longer support OJS 3, including Books for Review and Dataverse Please note that for you to take an inventory of your useful and frequently used plugins and features, you should check and trace details regarding their availability for newer OJS versions before you decide to upgrade.
Some data is not included as a result of the OJS upgrade. We have listed the exclusion of data that be found.
The pop-up that shows the detail of each editorial team won’t be supported. The solution for this issue is to create a custom static page or custom design for each of the Editorial members including their affiliation.

Conclusion

To summarize, I would say that an OJS upgrade is a very necessary thing to do if you want your hosted journal more secure, efficient, responsive, and reliable. However, this process is not an easy task for a normal human being. It requires expert knowledge. So, I would suggest you to higher an expert agency for the said purpose.

Tags OJS, OJS upgarde, PKP, Research, Research Paper, upgrade

Uncategorized

What is ISSN Number? How to Apply for Free ISSN?

Post author By Varun Patel
Post date January 6, 2023
No Comments on What is ISSN Number? How to Apply for Free ISSN?

What is ISSN?

Let us start with a very simple analogy to understand ISSN numbers very effectively: Many cars and other vehicles are roaming worldwide. There could be many similar automobile attributes for each type of vehicle. Let us take, for example, colors, make, model, version, body types, etc. However, to have better administrative control over the vehicle, it is compulsory to have a well-formatted unique identifier for each vehicle. We call this unique identifier a car number/license plate number/ registration number or any other.

The final takeaway is, when anyone requires information regarding any vehicle, it can be easily accessed via this unique identifier. This arrangement makes the management process very easy.

Similarly, the ISSN number is a unique identifier for any serial, making the information-grabbing task easy for its consumer and administrator. In this blog, I will discuss everything about ISSN numbers in detail.

So, What is ISSN Number?

ISSN number is an abbreviation of International Standard Serial Number. It is a unique identifier or unique identification number or unique identification code given to serials such as Journals, Newspapers, Newsletters, Directories, Yearbooks, Annual Reports, Monograph series, Magazines, etc.

The ISSN number system was first drafted by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in 1971 and published as ISO 3297 in 1975. ISO subcommittee TC 46/SC 9 is responsible for maintaining the standard.

Throughout this blog, serial means following, which can have an ISSN number.

Magazines,
Newspapers,
Annuals (such as reports, yearbooks, and directories),
Journals,
Memoirs,
Proceedings,
Transactions of societies,
Monographic series

What is the use of the ISSN number?

It easily identifies or easily accesses any serials of the above-discussed types.
It also helps the publishers to keep track of each iteration of published serials. Using ISSN numbers, backtracking, and referencing tasks become very sorted and efficient.
If you are well aware of the word “research publication“, you know about the word “citation“. Each researcher or any particular body needs referencing from other published literature in the research industry. In such a scenario, the ISSN number makes this task very easy.
Publisher’s point of view, the ISSN number is a very important and useful thing to have for published items. Because once you acquire the ISSN number for your publication, you get international publicity and recognition free as your published item is in International Serials Directory Database.

Who assigns the ISSN number?

ISSN International Centre:

The overall charge of the related assignment and management activities is handled by “ISSN International Centre”, based in Paris, France. This central body is an intergovernmental organization. It was originated by UNESCO in 1974. It governs the various “ISSN National Centres” across the globe.

This entity is responsible for maintaining the database of all assigned ISSNs worldwide. This database is known as ISDS Register (International Serials Data System). Many times it is also called as ISSN Register. This register is not open accessed; however, you can opt for the subscription for access.

ISSN National Centres (89 Centres):

This body works at the country level. Usually located at the country’s national or central library. They follow the guidelines of the international centre. This is the subordinate body of the ISSN international body.

For example, an ISSN request from an Indian-origin serial will be handled by the ISSN National Centre, India (Located at India National Science Library CSIR-NIScPR, 14 Satsang Vihar Marg New Delhi – 110067 Email: issn.india@niscpr.res.in Ph.: 011- 26863759).

What is the format of ISSN?

First, ISSN is to be written as a prefix.
8 digit code will follow the ISSN.
The first 4 digits and last 4 digits are divided by “-(hyphen)”.
Out of 8 digits, the first 7 are integer types (0-9). The last 8th digit can be from 0-9, or X. X is called the “check digit“, used for error detection and correction methods.
We can summarize the ISSN format as follows:
ISSN NNNN-NNNC (Where N=0-9 & C=0-9 or X means check digit)
For Example, ISSN 2348-1269

Which are the types of ISSNs?

Broadly, types of ISSN are categorized as follows:

P-ISSN or p-ISSN (For Printed Version)

Used for the printed form of serial. Example: Printed magazine,

reports, journals, etc.

E-ISSN or e-ISSN (For Electronic Version)

Used for an electronic form of serial. Example: Online journals,

Online periodicals, etc.

ISSN-L or Linking ISSN (For Linking E & P ISSN)

This ISSN will link e & p ISSN. It will be the same as the ISSN of the first published form. Using this ISSN, you can easily track both forms of published medium.

Note: If the same content is published in dual format (i.e. Print and electronic), they will have different ISSNs for Print and electronic mediums. For example, the International Journal of Research and Analytical Reviews has a dual medium, so it contains two different ISSNs: (1) E-ISSN 2348-1269 (For Electronic) (2) P- ISSN 2349-5138 (For Print).

How to use ISSN for serials’ information retrival?

For this particular section, I would like to discuss 2 cases in which you can retrieve information about any serial with ISSN.

Case-1: You have ISSN but not the name of the serial.

In this case, first, visit the website https://portal.issn.org/.

Insert ISSN only in the concern textbox and select “ISSN” from the dropdown box, as shown in the below screenshot. Then click on “Search.”

Now, you will have all the basic details about the journal or any other linked serials with inserted ISSN.

Case-2: You have the name of the serial but not the ISSN.

In this case, visit the website https://portal.issn.org/.

Insert the serial title in the concern textbox and select “title” from the dropdown box, as shown in the below screenshot. Then click on “Search.”

Now, you will have all the basic details about the journal if you have entered the correct title. From this process, you can retrieve the ISSN also.

Note: For retrieving the information regarding any serials, you need to have ISSN or its title. If you have the correct ISSN, then above said official portal of ISSN will eventually provide you with accurate information on the serials. By this method, you can check the authenticity of any serial.

How to get ISSN?

To get ISSN in India, visit the official website of ISSN National Centre, India, which is http://nsl.niscair.res.in/ISSNPROCESS/applyissn.jsp and follow the below steps: