Getting Started With OJS

Introduction to Open Journal Systems (OJS)

What is OJS?

“Is a journal management and publishing system that has been developed by the Public Knowledge Project (PKP) through its federally funded efforts to expand and improve access to research” (http://pkp.sfu.ca/ojs/).

OJS assists the user with each step of the refereed publishing process. OJS supports each step of the submission, review, editing, formatting, publication, and indexing processes. Furthermore, OJS is an open source software made freely available to journals and currently supports over thirty languages. OJS offers journals the option of considering online open access publishing, but also supports subscription-based or partial-subscription publication models.

What is PKP?

“PKP is a multi-university initiative developing (free) open source software and conducting research to improve the quality and reach of scholarly publishing” (http://pkp.sfu.ca/).

PKP has two institutional anchors, Stanford University and Simon Fraser University Library, and four major development partners, California Digital Library, Ontario Council of University Libraries, University of British Columbia Libraries, and University of Pittsburgh Libraries.

In addition to Open Journal Systems, PKP projects include: Open Conference Systems, Open Monograph Press, and Open Harvester Systems.

For a quick video introduction to OJS and PKP, check this video from PKP’s “OJS for Journal Managers” course: Introduction to PKP and OJS.

OJS at Northeastern University?

Open Journal System is an open source journal publishing system supported by Northeastern University Libraries. With Open Journal System, users can manage many aspects of the serial publishing workflow, including managing submissions, editing and indexing content, maintaining subscriptions, among others.

Northeastern Libraries’ instance of Open Journal System is still in the development phase. If you would like more information about an anticipated start date, please contact us by filling out the form located here.

Resource List

There are quite a few resources that can guide a user through the various steps of using and managing an OJS installation. A more comprehensive list is in development, but these resources will be invaluable to users interested in using OJS.

• OJS Official Documentation
• OJS User Guide (New Guide in Production)
• OJS FAQ
• PKP Support Forums for OJS
• OJS in an Hour

User Roles

“OJS uses a comprehensive roles system to divide work between users, assign workflows, and limit access to different parts of the system” (Roles in OJS). Users of OJS can be assigned multiple roles within the same journal or assigned different roles for multiple journals within the same installation. Please note that for many journals Editors or Section Editors often fill the roles of Copyeditors, Layout Editors, and/or Proofreaders depending on the individual journal’s task assignment and policies directing workflow.

For more information on User Roles in OJS, please consult: User Roles in OJS

Editorial and Publishing Workflow

PKP has produced a very helpful chart detailing the Editorial Workflow in OJS. For more information about the workflow consult the OJS User Guide.

Creating and Setting Up Your Journal

Creating a New Journal

Creating a new journal in OJS is a fairly simple process but only the Site Administrator has permission to do so. If you are interested in creating a new journal but are not the Site Administrator, please contact them. For step-by-step instructions on how to create a new journal in OJS, consult: Creating a New Journal

Setting Up Your Journal

Once a journal has been created by the Site Administrator, the Journal Manager can begin the 5-Step process for setting up a new journal. There are two easy ways to navigate to the Setup page. Sign in to an account that has been assigned the Journal Manager role, and click on “User Home” in the navigation bar. There is a quick link to “Setup” on the User Home screen next to “Journal Manager.” Alternatively, if one clicks the “Journal Manager” link, one can choose “Setup” on the next page.

For a more detailed look at the 5-Step Setup Process in OJS, consult our Journal Setup Guide.

Managing Users and Creating Accounts

OJS supports multiple ways for creating user accounts. Depending on your journal’s registration settings (Step 4.3 Management, Journal Setup) some users (Readers, Reviewers, Authors) can self-register for your journal content or you may require the Journal Manager to create and register each user account. For more detailed information on Managing Users and Creating Accounts in OJS, consult: Managing Users and Creating Accounts in OJS

Designing your Journal Site

Theme Options

OJS supports a several preset themes that will change how your journal website looks. In Step 5. “The Look” of the Journal Setup, you can select your theme using the drop-down menu in 5.6 Journal Management. Please consult this Guide for screenshots of each OJS theme for easy reference.

You can also upload a custom CSS stylesheet if you wish, but that will require more extensive knowledge of HTML and CSS. If you are interested in uploading a custom stylesheet please consult with your Site Administrator and OJS’s Documentation for making Stylesheet Modifications.

Custom Theme Plugin

The Custom Theme Plugin allows you a relatively simple way of altering the coloring of your journal website, by choosing colors for your site’s Headers, Links, Background, and Foreground.

If you are interested in using the Custom Theme Plugin, please contact your Site Administrator and/or Technical Support Contact to make this plugin's stylesheet file, located at "plugins/themes/custom/custom.css", writeable.

Using the Custom Theme Plugin:

1. If you have already contacted your Site Administrator and/or Technical support contact and the above stylesheet has been made writeable, you will be able to use the Custom Theme Plugin to change the colors of some elements of your journal site. Log-in as Journal Manager, click “User Home,” then select “Journal Manager” to open admin options.
2. Then select “System Plugins” under the “Management Pages” heading. This will direct you to a list of plugin types. Select “Theme Plugins,” which will direct you to a list of all themes currently installed on your OJS installation. Find the “Custom Theme Plugin” heading and select “Settings.” This will direct you to the Plugin interface where you can make style changes.
   
3. In the plugin interface you can use the “Pick Colour” button to select your desired colors for Header, Link, Background, and Foreground. This button will open an in-page color picker and will automatically enter the appropriate Hexadecimal color code (for more on hexadecimal color codes, see here).
   
   Alternatively, if you know your desired hexadecimal color code, you can enter it in the text box to the left of the “Pick Colour” button. Once you have selected your desired colors, click save and the color changes will be made. To make sure your changes are displayed, make sure you choose “Custom Theme Plugin” as your Journal Theme in step 5.6 of the Journal Setup. Please note that if you see, “NOTE: This plugin’s stylesheet file, ‘plugins/themes/custom/custom.css’, is not currently writeable. This file must be writable before the plugin can be used,” you will not be able to save your color changes.

The Submission Process

OJS allows users to submit articles or other submission types (defined by the journal) directly into the journal site. These submissions are then organized and assigned to Editors or Section Editors, who then direct accepted submission into the Review process. For instructions on how to submit an article to a journal (as an Author) and how Editors and/or Section Editors direct submissions into the Review process, consult: The Submission Process

The Review Process

Once the Editor has assigned a submission to another Editor, a Section Editor, or to themself, they can begin guiding the submission through the review process. The steps involved in the Review Process include assigning a Reviewer, creating a Review Form, reviewing submissions, and making decisions on reviewed submissions. Consult this guide for more detailed instructions: The Review Process

For quick video tutorials on the Review Process, please consult Modules 9, 10, and 11 in PKP School’s “OJS for Editors” course (“Assigning a Reviewer,” “The Reviewer’s Steps,” and “Responding to the Reviews”).

The Editorial Process

(coming soon)

The Publication Process

(coming soon)