To begin with the basic idea, I would say, Open Preprint Systems (OPS) and Open Journal Systems (OJS) are kind of free or you can say open-source software. This software is developed and managed by PKP ( Public Knowledge Project). PKP is a project of various universities spread across the world to provide open-source software to the world research community, and to bring scholarly publishing under one umbrella as far as the World Wide Web is concerned. This software primarily aims at digitization of research work to make it more accessible easily and without any subscription.
PKP not only has Open Preprint Systems and Open Journal System, but it also provides software like Open Monograph Press (OMP) and OHS (Open Harvester Systems). In this section, we will only talk about Open Preprint Systems.
What is Open Preprint Systems (OPS)?
It is a very robust open-source platform, which primary task is to avail the functionality by which preprint management of research papers can become hassle-free. This software has a very good capability to manage research papers that are not published.
For providing the above-discussed functionalities Open Preprint Systems uses the same software architecture just as Open Journal System (OJS). Open Preprint Systems manages the servers which hold the preprint of research papers, that are accessible online by the general population.
What is a preprint?
It is nothing but one kind of research paper in its draft form not in the final published version. Many times it happens that researchers want their novel ideas put in front of the world before it gets finalized. A research paper is a thing that cannot be finished in one go, it requires a lot of editing and a rigorous back & forth correction process.
- During its implementation part, a single research paper generates many versions, which are called preprints.
- A research paper that is accepted by editors but not published is also called a preprint.
- A research paper that is sent back to the writer for correction by the editors, is also called a preprint.
Which are the functionalities provided by Open Preprint Systems (OPS)?
- Responsive reader front-end with multiple options for content organization
- Author-led rapid publication workflow
- Online submission and management of all content
- Customizable to suit your screening policies, with several options included
- Integrated with scholarly publishing services such as Crossref and ORCiD
- Locally installed and controlled
- Community-led and supported
- Built-in support for a wide array of features from the OJS and OMP ecosystem
- Available in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, with more languages to come
How do Open Preprint Systems (OPS) differ from Open Journal Systems (OJS)?
As far as the birth of these two software systems is concerned, they share the common goal of “Management of Scholarly Research Work & Publishing them online”. The way in which they operate to manage the resources makes them different from each other.
Both software originated from a common platform run by the Public Knowledge Project (PKP), which is known for its non-profit nature and availing subscription-less, customizable various research-oriented software management systems. User can decorate their websites made by such platforms very easily and of course free of cost. This software holds the GNU General Public License (GPL v3)
The primary goal of PKP is to initiate the OPS to make preprint management very easy for people who do not have a technical background. It has a very simple and self-explanatory workflow.
On the other hand, The main focus of OJS is to grab the attention of the research community, spread across the world. It provides services to individuals as well as the institute to host an open-access journal with a simplified editorial workflow. As more than 10000 open-access journals already have been hosted using OJS, it is very popular amongst the research community.
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Conclusion
OPS is basically an open-source software, that is free for anyone to use with preprint handling. It is developed by the Public Knowledge Project (PKP). Where the software is free to download or modify. Both software is licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL v3). It is the one-stop solution for managing complex preprints.