Getting Started: Scholarly Communication

OPEN JOURNAL SYSTEMS

The Texas State University Libraries provides open journal hosting services to all TXST faculty, staff, and students. Through our membership in the Texas Digital Library consortium, journals are published using Open Journals System (OJS), an open-source editorial management and publishing system. OJS provides a professional online presence and can be used to manage some or all of the stages of the journal publishing process: submissions, peer review, the editorial process, online publishing, and indexing. Articles are licensed for reuse using a Creative Commons license.

Using Open Journal Systems (OJS), faculty can set up and publish an online journal (or migrate an existing journal) without any costs for the software or Texas Digital Library (TDL) technical assistance.

The OJS software helps with every stage of peer-reviewed publishing, handling online submissions from authors, managing workflows from submission to publication, publishing issues online, and indexing content.

Using OJS, journal managers and editors can:

• Customize submission requirements, the peer-review process, and the journal appearance
• Perform all journal management tasks online
• Provide comprehensive indexing of content (e.g., DOIs, ISSN, Google, ORCID)
• Use OJS email notification and commenting tools

Examples of TXST OJS Journals

• Journal of College Academic Support Programs
• Journal of Research on Women and Gender
• Louder Than Words

In addition to choosing what type of journal to publish, content, and title, there are a number of other decisions you'll need to make during the planning stage. Whether launching a new journal or migrating an existing journal to OJS, consider:

• What need will your journal be filling?
• Are you offering a unique contribution to the field?
• What discipline(s) does this journal fall into?
• How will the journal be funded? Time and money?
• Who will be on the editorial board?
• Do you have defined aims and scope?

TDL Guidebook

There are many elements to consider toward open access publishing. For complete information see our guidebook:

Interested in starting a new scholarly journal? Have ideas and want to learn more about getting started? 

Step 1: Complete the following information

• Name of journal: 
• Name and email address(es) for Journal Manager(s): 
• URL 'slug' or acronym for the journal: 
• Purpose and scope of journal (one or two sentences is sufficient):
• Plan for publication:
• Planned publication frequency:
• Do you have an editorial board:
• What plans do you have for staffing the journal?
• When do you estimate first issue?
• Is this an existing journal with back issues that must be migrated? If so:
  • How many issues?
  • How many articles? (An estimate is fine.)
  • What platform/format are back issues in?
• Will journal articles and issues be Open Access?
• What language(s) does the journal use?  

Step 2: Send completed information via email to: digitalcollections@txstate.edu

• If you would like to try out OJS, we can setup a test OJS journal first
• Once you are ready to launch, the TDL will setup your new journal
• You'll receive login instructions via email

Step 3: Consider Archiving in the TXST Digital Collections Repository

• The Digital Collections Repository is indexed widely to provide greater visibility for your journal
• All items in the Digital Collections Repository are archived for long-term preservation
  • This will ensure a backup of your content in case of any unexpected disaster or errors
• Each item and journal collection has viewable statistics to show the impact of your journal
• The original journal link is included, to increase visibility to the journal and maximize impact
• To include your journal in the Digital Collections Repository, simply email: digitalcollections@txstate.edu
  • We will upload the journal issues and articles, add the description and metadata, and maintain the collection
• View examples in the Journals and Conference Proceedings Collection

1. What is meant by a "URL slug or acronym" for the journal?

• All of our hosted journals include the prefix "https://journals.tdl.org/" which will be followed by a slug/acronym for the journal 
• For example, the Journal of College and Academic Support Programs (J-CASP) utilizes the "jcasp" slug and the URL is "https://journals.tdl.org/jcasp"

2. Does OJS support assigning Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs)? 

• Yes. The journal manager(s) will need a membership with Crossref, Datacite, or another DOI registration agency and there is typically a fee. For more information on getting started and using the DOI plugin for OJS, see: https://docs.pkp.sfu.ca/crossref-ojs-manual/en/gettingStarted

3. How do I ensure my journal is indexed to maximize discovery?

• There are a few options for indexing your journal. The three that we recommend are:
  • Register with the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
  • Register with EBSCO (Form for registering)
  • Include your journal in the TXST Digital Collections Repository

4. Who do I contact with questions about OJS or for technical support?

• Contact Laura Waugh, Digital Collections Librarian: lwaugh@txstate.edu