Migration of scientific journal from one OJS installation to another

[Prof_Andre]

I am the editor responsible for a scientific journal currently hosted on an OJS installation, and I am planning to migrate it to a new installation. To avoid errors during the process, I would like to request official guidance on the following points:

1. What is the official recommended procedure to migrate a complete scientific journal (issues, articles, users, and metadata) from one OJS installation to another?

2. Are there differences in the migration process between identical versions (OJS 3 → OJS 3) and different versions (OJS 2 → OJS 3)?

3. Which official plugins or tools should be used to export and import issues and articles (e.g., Native XML Plugin)?

4. Should the files_dir directory be migrated manually, or is there an automated tool for this?

5. How can we ensure that DOIs, external links, and indexing settings (CrossRef, ORCID, Google Scholar) are preserved after migration?

6. Is there official documentation or an updated step-by-step guide for migrating scientific journals in OJS?

7. What are the most common errors in this process, and how can they be avoided?

Thank you in advance for your support and guidance.

Best regards, André

Additional information:
Original OJS: https://periodicoscientificos.ufmt.br/ojs/index.php/repad
New OJS: https://periodicos.ufr.edu.br

[rcgillis]

Hi @Prof_Andre,

I think I can really speak to a few of your specific questions:

@Prof_Andre

• What is the official recommended procedure to migrate a complete scientific journal (issues, articles, users, and metadata) from one OJS installation to another?

I don’t know that there is an official recommended procedure from PKP. I know some folks on our teams have previously just migrated entire instances, deleted other journals on the instance. But, I think that is not a perfect strategy, and has led to some extraneous files and database entries being left attached to the instance.

@Prof_Andre

• Are there differences in the migration process between identical versions (OJS 3 → OJS 3) and different versions (OJS 2 → OJS 3)?

Yes. The codebase for OJS 2 compared to OJS 3 is quite difference. In instances where you were migrating an OJS 2 install, you’d likely be better off upgrading it first. There can be differences within the same major version as well (e.g. OJS 3.4 is quite a bit different than OJS 3.1). The closer you can get between versions, the more likely they are to be compatibile.

@Prof_Andre

• Which official plugins or tools should be used to export and import issues and articles (e.g., Native XML Plugin)?

A lot of the import/export tools might apply: https://docs.pkp.sfu.ca/admin-guide/en/data-import-and-export - but they have their limitations, and tools like the Native XML Plugin, would still involve a fair bit of work (e.g. building and testing the XML, quality control, etc.). It is a third-party plugin, but I have heard of people having success with the Full Journal Transfer plugin: GitHub - lepidus/fullJournalTransfer: OJS plugin for importing/exporting a journal with all its private information (e.g. submitted articles, reviews, editorial decisions, etc.) · GitHub

@Prof_Andre

• How can we ensure that DOIs, external links, and indexing settings (CrossRef, ORCID, Google Scholar) are preserved after migration?

I can’t speak to this fully, it would depend a lot on where you’re migrating from.

@Prof_Andre

• Is there official documentation or an updated step-by-step guide for migrating scientific journals in OJS?

I don’t believe so. The only thing that might come close is the administrator’s guide

@Prof_Andre

1. What are the most common errors in this process, and how can they be avoided?

Doing a search for journal migration here on the forum: Search results for 'journal migration order:latest' - PKP Community Forum might give you a better sense of that. I know that people often encounter errors in the Native XML process, especially if they are exporting XML from one version to another (e.g. 3.2 to 3.3) - their are incompatibilities in the schema between versions that can introduce problems.

I’ve only spoken in bits and pieces to some of your questions, but I’ll see if some of our other team members can weigh in with responses and recommendations. And, other members of the community may wish to comment and give advice as well.

-Roger
PKP Team

[rslonik]

Migrating one Journal from a multi-tenant install to another multi-tenant install will not be easy. If you were migrating from a multi into a fresh single install, you could clone the origin install and delete other journals. But that’s not the case.

Looking at the links you provided, both are in 3.4 version. So the fullJournalTransfer plugin will not work (compatible only with 3.3).

The Native XML is a possible path here, but it will import only Issues, Articles and Users/Roles. Any Journal metrics, discussions, revisions, plugin configuration will be lost. It’s recommended the origin and target Journal being in the same version for this as well.

I’m confused you mentioned OJS 2. Is there any other Journal you’re looking to migrate as well?

Anyway, It’s recommended that you fully test the process before doing it on production. Preferably cloning the target install.