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There is no need to register your site for it to be indexed. The Google Scholar crawler will
automatically find the site. The standard OJS URL structure has worked well for a long time. Avoid customizing URLs, which makes it more difficult to identify a journal site, and as a result, takes longer to index.

For indexing, Google Scholar needs URLs for all articles and bibliographic information in the form of machine-readable metadata tags (“metatags”). You can find more information about metatags in the Google Scholar inclusion guidelines:
https://scholar.google.com/intl/en/scholar/inclusion.html#indexing

In OJS you can view metatags in the source code from the article landing page by right-clicking or keyboard command to ‘View Page Source,’ depending on your browser, and search HTML source for “citation_’ to view metatags. Metatags should match the published PDF: for example, title, author, and publication dates match, and bibliographic metatags written in (only) language/script of the published full-text article. Don’t duplicate metatag information in multiple languages and scripts.

Common mistakes include inconsistent “first name last name” or “last name, first name” format, incomplete author names, and errors in spelling and capitalization. List complete author names in citation_author tags as they are written in the published PDF, in the same order as the author order of the published PDF. Use either “last name, first name” or “first name last name” the format in metatags.

If metatags are no longer included after the OJS upgrade, which was a known issue for journals upgrading from OJS 2.x to OJS 3.0.1, 3.0.2, 3.1.0, and 3.1.1., when the Google Scholar plugin was not automatically enabled, then –

Test: view the source code for a few articles in each journal that upgraded. If there is no citation_title tag, your site is affected.

Fix: re-enable “Google Scholar Indexing Plugin” manually for individual journals via admin dashboard for OJS instances with a small number of journals. And upgrade to OJS 3.1.2. Use an SQL command for large OJS instances with many journals:
https://github.com/pkp/ojs/blob/stable-3_1_2/dbscripts/xml/upgrade/3.1.2_update.xml#L41..L42

IndraStra Open Journal Systems provides services and software that enable University faculty, staff, and students to publish online open-access journals. Journals publish using Open Journal Systems (OJS), an open source 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.

IndraStra OJS Team is available to consult during the planning process to provide some customization of the journal’s appearance, initial training to the editorial staff, and ongoing technical support. This guide provides information and resources for potential and current journal managers and editors through all stages–from planning to publishing.

Check out the complete list of Open Access journals at IndraStra OJS Pilot!

Typical Workflows in OJS

Workflows within OJS can be simple or complex. A few examples:

• The simplest way to use OJS is as a publishing platform only. This workflow requires only the Journal Manager and Editor roles (i.e., to create an issue, upload PDFs, and publish). All other tasks are performed outside OJS.
• A more complex workflow might also include Author submissions through OJS and perhaps also tracking the Review process through OJS.
• Many journals treat the Editor position as a kind of managing editor or editor-in-chief and assign Section Editors to perform the day-to-day management of an article’s progress through the editorial process.
• Especially for smaller journals, the Copyeditor/Layout Editor/Proofreader roles are often handled by the same person, either outside OJS or tracked within the system.
• Student journals often use a rolling system of editors, i.e., staff from all class years. This ensures that there are always experienced students ready to take over journal management as seniors graduate.

We will work with you to ensure your journal is set up correctly in OJS for your chosen workflow.

NOTE:

1: We offer OJS hosting service as a third-party commercial service provider. We are not affiliated with PKP or PKP Publishing Services (or PKP|PS).

2: As per the Open Access principles (Plan-S), journals hosted on IndraStra OJS Platform (exempted for custom deployment cost) can not impose any APC (Article Processing Charges) on their authors. Also, the journal contents cannot be locked behind a paywall.

3: Individual researchers need to submit Institution Affiliation Certificate (IAC) or University Endorsement Letter (UEL) along with their SCOPUS IDs (mandatory) to host a journal at IndraStra OJS Platform (exempted for custom deployment).

4: We fully support the HINARI/AGORA/OARE/ARDI/TEEAL/ITOCA Access to IndraStra OJS platform; a full waiver is given to institutions from the HINARI group A countries, and a 50% discount to institutions from group B. To check the eligibility, visit this link. link.

More and more library publishers are using Open Journal Systems (OJS), Open Monograph Press (OMP), and Open Preprint Systems (OPS) developed by the Public Knowledge Project (PKP). However, out of these three sub-projects, OJS stands out.

The goal of the highly adaptable and scalable architecture of OJS is to enhance the publication process and promote academic journals by increasing readership, creating a space for scientific conversation, improving publication quality, and encouraging open access to scientific research. The software is released under the GPLv2 license, which can be freely downloaded, used, and modified if necessary.

OJS’ key benefit is that it streamlines the submission and editorial workflow. The system offers the technical infrastructure that supports journals from the time an author submits a manuscript to the time it is peer-reviewed and published, as well as indexing. The tool establishes a clear and transparent split of users into groups such as readers, authors, reviewers, and editors, granting each group suitable system rights. OJS allows for electronic submission, revision, and publication of articles by combining the above tasks into a single platform dedicated to the entire publication process.

The increased citation and prominence of their publications benefit authors the most. Furthermore, the user interface simplifies contact with the editors, and all publication data is centralized. As a result, the author may track reviews, manage files, and oversee the entire online editing process. Also, authors can use OJS to deposit papers, offer metadata, and refer to editor and reviewer changes.

Using OJS by the reviewer to examine an article submission has resulted in a significant increase in efficiency and automation of the review process. It provides all relevant timeframes from the review process — such as the deadline for replying to an invitation to review a manuscript and the deadline for submitting the review of the same. OJS allows reviewers to send copies of article files with comments or revisions after the evaluation. The reviewer can submit notes in OJS for both the author and the editorial staff. Also, the reviewer can check if the author has made the proposed corrections.

However, OJS is a platform designed to help editors handle the publication process remotely using a web browser. These features clearly show that OJS enables the implementation of an extensive and fully customizable article review system, allowing the verification of submission quality and timeliness and contributing to the creation of a reviewer database. Furthermore, OJS promotes communication between users of the site, both inside (discussions on specific articles) and externally (emailing, mailing lists), greatly assisting the editorial team’s job.

One of the advantages of utilizing OJS is that Google Scholar automatically indexes the content of a journal updated using this tool. OJS also allows the transmission of metadata, which means the actual integration of the journal with indexing systems in selected databases, thanks to the ability to install extra plugins. Furthermore, the available plugins allow OJS to be integrated with a variety of publishing services like Crossref, ORCiD, and DOAJ. From a technological standpoint, useful platform functionalities include the event log, statistics and reporting elements, and – most importantly – the ability to create the final composition of the issue for publishing.

Global technological advancements impact science in terms of research and presentation, particularly in academic papers. One result of this approach is the gradual digitization of scholarly journals. And to lead this digitization, universities and other research institutions must adopt and adapt OJS as the primary platform for their home-grown University Press Systems.

About the Author

Rahul Guhathakurta (ORCID: 0000-0002-6400-6423).