A configured OJS installation for a journal that wants its own platform: review workflow set to the journal's own stages, metadata emitted in the tags indexing services read, DOI registration through Crossref, and full text reachable by a crawler. The software that most scholarly publishers already run, set up so a journal can actually be found.
What is included
- OJS installed and configured to your journal's own review stages rather than left at the defaults.
- Article metadata emitted in the tags indexing services read, which is where most journals silently fail.
- DOI registration through Crossref.
- Full text reachable by a crawler without a login.
- Section editors and reviewer lists set up, so a submission reaches somebody competent to judge it.
- Editor training, and written notes they can go back to.
Why OJS rather than something custom
Peer review is a solved problem. A custom submission system means reproducing a workflow that reviewers, editors and indexers already know, with none of the compatibility that comes free. The interesting work is in the metadata and the indexing, not in rebuilding the form.
What it costs to keep running
Hosting, a domain, and the updates OJS releases. Budgeting for the installation without budgeting for its maintenance is the usual way a journal platform becomes unsupportable.