Journal Hosting: Journal Setup

Create the content that will appear on the journal's About Page which includes defining the review policies and procedures.

The site will come pre-populated with form letters you can use in managing the review processing; you can also modfity any of those as you wish.

It is also wise to consult the software developer's OJS Documentation page (especially since learning something new can be challenging) because it has extensieve information for every role involved in the journal. It has specific sections dedicated to Journal Managers, Editors, Section Editors, Reviewers, Copyeditors, Layout Editors, Proofreaders, Authors, etc. This is a good resource to share with members of your editorial staff to help guide them through their respsonisbilies as well.

Another great resource from the software developer are the video tutorials (supplemented with readings from the OJS documentation materials mentioned above) available at the PKP School. From this page, check out the COURSES for:

• OJS for Journal Managers: This course is designed for people who need to learn how to use OJS quickly as a Journal Manager.

• OJS for Editors:  This course is designed for people who need to learn how to use OJS quickly. Whether you are starting your own journal or are responsible for setting up a journal for someone else, you’ll find all of the basics covered in this course, as well as pointers toward more advanced topics.

• Becoming an Editor:  This course is designed to help you become a successful editor of a scholarly journal.

• Writing for Publication:  This course provides authors with the thinking skills and strategies necessary to create effective and publishable articles from their research. Using emerging technologies and social media will also be covered in the course.

• Becoming a Reviewer:  This course is designed to help you become a successful reviewer of a scientific or scholarly journal.

Best Practices

As a Journal Manager, it is suggested that you learn the roles of Editors and Section Editors. But being familair with all roles, including Authors, Peer Reviewers, Copyeditors, Layout Editors, etc., will only help make your job easier in the long.

Encourage your editorial team to review the OJS Documentation page and/or the PKP School tutorials for their role if they are new to editorial practices or new to OJS.

Demo OJS

If you want to see what an instance of OJS looks like before you begin, you can use the OJS Demo and click on "test drive on our server". Note the login details on the OJS Demo page.

When in doubt, check out the OJS Documentation for specifics on different roles. This is a good resource to bookmark.

Depending on the makeup of the editorial team, you may have more than one role in OJS. For example, an editor may also perform copy-editing or layout in addition to the general practices of being an editor. Or you may have different people performing copyedit, layout, design, etc. Keep that in mind as you build your editorial team.

For intial setup however, only the Journal Manager role can create and edit journal policies including the setup procedures. You must be logged in as the Journal Manager to do so. If you run into issues, contact the Library Admin for assistance.

Once logged in, select Journal Manager as your role. Then from the Management Pages, select Setup.

1. Review the Step 1 (Details) for accuracy. This information was already setup by Library Admin from information the Journal Manager provided.

2. Then review and revise content in Steps 2.1 through 2.5 (Policies).

Review and revise content found in steps 2.1 through 2.5. These fields allow you to outline the review policies and procedures of your journal. This allows you to provide detailed guidance for your reviewers and can define how much of the review process is handled through OJS. Be sure to use the Save and Continue button at the bottom of the page to save your changes.

Want more information? Check out the video tutorial (Module 7) from OJS for Journal Managers.

3. Next, review and revise Step 3 (Submissions) in order to provide information and guidance for your authors. It is best to have reviewed sample copyright statements in advance so you know what rights your journal will retain.

Considering providing authors of your journal with guidance on:

• required citation and reference styles
• types of acceptable supplementary files, for example, datasets
• submission formats
• copyright (including rights to first distribution, posting in insitutional repositories, sharing with co-workers, use in classroom, etc)

Want more information? Check out the video tutorial (Module 8) from OJS for Journal Managers.