Open Journal Systems (OJS): e-Journals Hosted by UNCG Libraries

General Information

During the spring of 2010, the University Libraries acquired Open Journal Systems (OJS), a journal management and publishing system. Through the use of OJS, the Libraries can now support faculty who wish to publish online journals, newsletters, technical report series, and other publications. For a list of the journals currently supported at UNCG using OJS software, see UNCG Hosted Online Journals

OJS is an open-source software that was developed by the Public Knowledge Project (PKP), a partnership of faculty members, librarians, & graduate students from Simon Fraser University, the University of British Columbia, & Stanford University.  OJS was specifically designed to assist faculty and researchers in publishing peer-reviewed open-access journals, and it supports journal management through every stage of the peer-review and editorial process, from the submission of each manuscript to the final publication of each issue.

Supporting the entire management and publication process, OJS provides for a wide variety of roles, with special features and functions for each.  OJS roles include managers, editors, section editors, peer reviewers, copyeditors, layout editors, proofreaders, and when necessary, subscription managers.  In addition, authors can submit their manuscripts on each journal’s homepage, and they can later log-in to follow the status of their manuscripts in the review and publication process.  OJS supports all of these roles; however, depending on what the journal needs, particular roles can be utilized or not.

The flexibility of OJS is one of its most important features.  It can support peer-reviewed journals, but it also can support non-peer-reviewed publications, especially professional newsletters and technical reports.  OJS is specifically designed to support open-access publications, but it also can support subscription-based publications. In addition, there is a great flexibility in the number of individuals who can be involved with each publication.  A large number of individuals can be involved in a wide variety of roles (especially for peer-reviewed journals); but, if there is no peer-review, a very limited number of individuals can be involved, even just 1 or 2 (especially for newsletters, technical report series, etc.)

Faculty Interested in Using OJS to Publish an Online Journal, Newsletter, or Serial

Any faculty member interested in the possibility of using OJS should contact Anna Craft, Coordinator of Metadata Services, [email protected]