1. TDL Electronic Journals
Creating an Online Scholarly Journal Using Open Journal Systems (OJS)
Texas State University, March 5, 2014
Kristi Park
Marketing Manager
Texas Digital Library
12 student journals
For each journal:
Student journal manager and editor
1 Reviewer enrolled
1 document submitted in “unassigned” queue
Folder = 1 Word doc, images, 1 PDF
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

2. Goals Get comfortable in the OJS interface
Understand some of the more advanced capabilities of OJS
Set up a basic OJS journal and create a first issue (Journal Manager and Editor roles)
Gain a general understanding of other roles (Author, Reviewer, Section Editor, etc.)

3. Today’s agenda Intro Section 1: The Basics
E-journals, OJS, and the TDL
Section 1: The Basics
Roles in the OJS world
Features of an OJS journal
Section 2: Journal Management
Configuring the e-journal
Section 3: Editorial Process
Creating an issue
Breaks around 10:30 and noon

4. The Texas Digital Library is a consortium of libraries
that works together to support greater access to the riches of Texas academic institutions.

5. Publication (& online indexing of content)
About OJS
Journal management and publishing system
Facilitates Open Access publishing
More than 6,500 installations worldwide
Assists with every stage of the refereed publishing process
Publication (& online indexing of content)
Editing
Peer Review
Submission

6. What you get with an OJS journal
Journal website where viewers/readers see published articles and issues, information about journal policies, processes, and staff
Optimized for search engine discovery (Google, etc.)
Optional “reading tools” that extend content of your journal
notification and commenting ability for readers (optional)
Online submission tool for authors
Backend editorial workflow and peer review tools that manage communications and track manuscript versions.
Export tools for exporting content to other systems (CrossRef, DOAJ, etc.)
Google Analytics plugin for monitoring site traffic
Secure user accounts for anyone touching the journal system (editors, reviewers, authors, etc.)
OJS is brought to you by:

7. TDL’s online journal service
TDL responsibilities
User responsibilities
Hosted OJS installation for your journal
Maintenance, upgrades, backup
TDL Helpdesk Support
For journal staff
For readers, authors, and other users
Training and other resources
Editorial policy-making and workflow tasks
Maintenance of site content
Notification of major changes to the journal
Extensive site customization (i.e. CSS modifications)
Maintenance of an Open Access policy
TDL Responsibilities
Hosted OJS installation for your journal
Maintenance, upgrades, backup
Notification of any changes that will affect users (downtime due to upgrades, etc.)
TDL Helpdesk
For journal staff – e.g. How do I use this plugin? Does OJS have this feature? I don’t think this is working right, etc.
For readers, authors, and other users– e.g. I can’t log in. I forgot my password, etc.
Training and other resources
User Responsibilities
Editorial policy-making and oversight
All editorial workflow tasks
Maintenance of site content (images, links, etc.)
Notification of major changes to the journal
If journal’s management transfers to another institution
If journal ceases publication, moves to another platform, etc.
Extensive site customization that goes beyond what is offered in the OJS interface (i.e. CSS modifications)
Maintenance of an Open Access policy

8. Roles; OJS from a reader’s perspective
Ojs Basics

9. Roles
OJS uses roles to organize activities and spaces within the journal’s management and publishing website.
Users may have more than one role (e.g. Journal Manager and Editor).
Multiple users can hold the same role (e.g. a team of 6 Editors).
Roles in OJS
Journal Manager
Sets up journal and journal policies, manages users
Editor
Oversees editorial workflow, creates and publishes issues
Section Editor (optional)
Manages editorial process for assigned articles
Reviewer
Reviews assigned articles and makes recommendation for publication
Author
Submits article through online submission interface
Additional roles – copyeditor, layout editor, proofreader, subscription manager (optional)
Optional roles that may be used depending on journal needs and size of journal staff.

10. OJS from a reader’s perspective
About the journal
Viewing articles
Registering for a journal
Register with the Texas State University Training Journal as a Reader and Author
Go to and select the journal. Click Register and fill out the form. (Take note of your username and password.)
Do this!

11. Submitting an article Author must be registered with journal as Author
5-step process
Start – copyright agreement, submission checklist, etc.
Enter metadata
Upload submission
Upload supplementary files
Confirm submission
Submit an article to the Texas State University Training Journal.
Do this!

12. Journal setup First steps to configuring a new journal
Do this!
Go to and go to your Student Journal.
Log in with student login credentials.
Go through the 5-step journal setup process.
First steps to configuring a new journal
Journal setup

13. Initial Setup – some things to think about
Basic info about the journal (name, etc.)
Journal policies and procedures
Focus and scope
Review policy
Submission guidelines for authors
Review guidelines (for peer reviewers)
Copyright notice/Open Access policy
Privacy statement
Editorial workflow decisions
Standard or -attachment review process
One person or multiple people working on each submission
Customization – i.e. “the look”

14. Review Process models Standard Review Process
Attachment Process
Reviewers log in to the OJS journal (or are taken directly to the journal interface via one-click access).
Reviewers enter comments and recommendations directly into the system.
All communication with reviewer is handled by outside the OJS system
Editor enters reviewer comments and recommendations into the OJS system.

15. Customizing OJS Using available themes Adding static web pages
Using the Custom Block plugin
More about customizing OJS:

16. More journal management
Add announcements
Create sections
Configure Reading Tools
Create masthead
User management
Plugins
Advanced capabilities
More journal management

17. Create sections

18. Configure Reading Tools

19. Create a masthead

20. User management Users Enrolled in this Journal
Edit user accounts, log in as other users, remove users, or disable accounts
Enroll existing users into new roles (editor, reviewer, etc.)
multiple users at once
Create new users
Enroll John Smith as a Reviewer.
Create a new (fake) user and enroll him/her as a Reviewer.
Do this!

21. Plugins Plugins = software modules that add specific features to OJS.
Found in Journal Management -> System Plugins
Divided into categories.
Generic Plugins (Statis Pages, Custom Block Manager, Google Analytics, Announcement Feed)
Block Plugins (to edit custom blocks)
Import/Export Plugins (QuickSubmit)

22. QuickSubmit Plugin
One-step submission plugin to bypass peer review/editorial workflow.
Assign to existing issue to publish immediately.
Assign to unpublished issue to send into editorial workflow.
“Leave unpublished” to send to archive.

23. Editing submissions and creating an issue
The Editorial process

24. Editorial processes and roles
Issues
Submissions
CREATE ISSUE
Take manuscript from the submissions queue.
Reviewers
Send manuscript out for PEER REVIEW.
Agree to do review.
Make EDITORIAL DECISION (accept, reject, etc.)
Submit review and recommendation.
Assign article to an issue.
EDITING. Copyedit, lay out, and proofread.
PUBLISH ISSUE
(when process is complete for all articles in an issue).

25. Create an issue
Do this!
Create a future issue.

26. Select a reviewer
Do this!
Select your fake Reviewer as a Reviewer.

27. What a Reviewer sees: email request

28. What the Reviewer sees, cont.
Do this!
Log in as your fake user to see the Reviewer interface.

29. What the Reviewer sees, cont.
Recommendation options:
Accept submission
Revisions required
Resubmit for review
Resubmit elsewhere
Decline submission
See comments.

30. The Editing Process Copyediting Scheduling Layout Proofreading
Download last version, do work, upload to next step.
Scheduling
Decide which issue an article belongs to. (Haven’t created the issue yet? Go to “Create issue.”)
Layout
Download final copyedited version of manuscript, create and upload proof.
Proofreading
Download proof, review for mistakes, enter comments. Create corrected proof and re-upload in “Layout.”

31. Things OJS doesn’t do
No tools for doing the copyediting or layout (only tools for managing the process)
Must have PDF or HTML creation tools for making proofs of articles
Must do copyediting outside the system and re-upload copyedited manuscripts
Not set up to host documents or images outside of prescribed places in the workflow.

32. Resources OJS in an Hour - http://pkp.sfu.ca/files/OJSinanHour.pdf
OJS demo site - (admin/testdrive)
Video tutorials -
TDL Helpdesk
(toll free)

33. Contacts Kristi Park kristi.park@austin.utexas.edu 512-495-4417
Helpdesk or
(toll free)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.