Open access journals are among the most popular types of journals among scientists. Many resources are dedicated to indexing this type of journal, but not all of them are high-quality, reliable, and trustworthy. Today, we will talk about Open Journal Systems and find out whether this platform is worth the attention of scientists.
What is Open Journal Systems?
Open Journal Systems (OJS) is open-source software for organising and automating the editorial process of scientific journals. It is designed to reduce the labour costs of traditional operations, increase the efficiency of editorial offices, and improve the quality of publications through innovative tools that ensure transparency and quality indexing of materials.
Why is Open Journal Systems popular among scientists?
OJS covers all stages of online journal production: from website configuration to manuscript submission, review, editing, publication, archiving, and indexing of materials.
The system greatly facilitates the manual work of editors, reviewers, and readers by automating correspondence and article status notifications.
OJS is a flexible and scalable platform. A single installation can serve multiple journals, each with its own URL and custom design. The system allows a single editor to manage all aspects of the journal, or an international team to work on a publication with multiple sections and functional roles.
In addition, OJS promotes expanded access to scientific materials. It helps reduce publishing costs and provides readers with open access to various parts of the journal.
Open Journal Systems editorial process
OJS manages journal articles through the main stages, which can be performed by one or more editors:
- Queue of unassigned articles – at this stage, the manuscript is assigned to one or more editors.
- Article review – includes evaluation by reviewers and an editorial decision on publication.
- Article editing – involves literary editing, layout and proofreading. Each article is assigned to a specific issue of the journal.
- Structure and publication – articles are arranged in a specific order and published.
Key advantages of Open Journal Systems
- Free of charge – the software is distributed under the GNU General Public License
- Multifunctionality – the system is supported and constantly improved thanks to numerous additional modules
- Language accessibility – the interface has been translated into more than 30 languages
- Versatility – OJS is written in PHP and can run on any web server
- Popularity – today, more than 50,000 journals use this system
Technical shortcomings of Open Journal Systems
Despite a number of advantages, OJS has certain technical limitations:
- Outdated interface – the system looks and functions less conveniently compared to modern journal management platforms.
- Complex configuration – the help of an experienced administrator is often required to fully utilise its capabilities.
- Limited integration – support for external services (e.g. ORCID, CrossRef, Scopus API) is not flexible enough.
Why do scientists distrust Open Journal Systems?
1. Peer review of scientific journals in Open Journal Systems
OJS does not provide any guarantees of quality peer review or compliance with ethical standards. Responsibility rests entirely with the editorial board, which is why the system is often used by dubious publications. A common problem is the unnaturally short time between submission and publication, which is a clear indication of the formal nature of the peer review process or its complete absence.
The Quick Submit plugin poses a particular threat, as it allows the expert review process to be bypassed and material to be published instantly. Its use effectively negates the review process, opening the way for the publication of any text without quality control. This calls into question the scientific integrity of journals operating on OJS and is one of the factors contributing to the spread of pseudoscientific and predatory publications.
2. The quality of journals in Open Journal Systems
There is a widespread misconception among scholars that publishing a journal on the Open Journal Systems platform automatically guarantees its quality and compliance with academic standards. In reality, OJS is only a technical tool for organising the editorial process and in no way ensures scientific integrity or transparency of procedures. A journal using this platform may meet high academic requirements, but it may also be ‘predatory’ and manipulate the status of a scientific publication.
In a number of countries, OJS journals have gained a reputation for being unreliable, which is explained by the widespread use of the platform by unscrupulous publishers. Some of these publications focus exclusively on commercialisation and quick profits, sacrificing peer review, editorial ethics, and quality control. This undermines trust in the platform as a whole and creates a negative attitude towards OJS even among those journals that try to work according to proper academic standards.
3. Programming and code of Open Journal Systems
Open Journal Systems is based on open source code, which has a dual effect on scientific communication. On the one hand, openness ensures that the system is accessible to anyone, promotes innovation, and allows the software to be adapted to the needs of a particular journal. On the other hand, this same accessibility creates serious risks.
In fact, any user can install OJS for free and announce the creation of a ‘scientific’ journal. This has led to the proliferation of dubious and sometimes outright predatory publications that use the platform exclusively for commercial purposes, disregarding peer review and academic standards. Such practices not only undermine trust in individual journals, but also discredit the very idea of open access.
Thus, although the open source model is one of the key advantages of OJS, it has also become the main source of problems that require greater attention from the scientific community and system developers.
Many researchers mistakenly consider Open Journal Systems to be a prestigious resource. In reality, Scopus and other authoritative databases do not even take into account the mere fact that a journal is on OJS when considering an application for indexing. Moreover, this can sometimes even create a negative impression, as questionable and predatory practices are common among OJS journals.
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