OJS 3.4.0.8 – Review reminder email shows due date one day earlier

Software Support
1

Hello,

we are experiencing an issue in OJS 3.4.0.8 related to reviewer reminder emails and date handling.

Description of the problem:
When assigning a reviewer, we set the “Review Due Date” (e.g., April 26, 2026). This date is correctly displayed in the “Edit Review” interface.

However, when sending a reminder email (“Send Reminder”), the due date inserted into the email is one day earlier (e.g., April 25, 2026).

Example:

  • Review Due Date (in UI): 26.04.2026

  • Date in reminder email: 25.04.2026

This behavior appears to be consistent (not random).

Additional observations:

  • The issue only affects the email content, not the UI.

  • It seems like a timezone-related conversion problem (possibly due to storing dates at 00:00 and shifting during formatting).

  • We did not observe this issue in OJS 3.3.x.

Environment:

  • OJS version: 3.4.0.8

  • Timezone (OJS): Europe/Bratislava

  • (We are currently verifying PHP and DB timezone settings.)

Questions:

  1. Is this a known issue in OJS 3.4.0.x?

  2. Has it been fixed in a later patch release (e.g., 3.4.0-9 or newer)?

  3. Is there a recommended workaround or configuration fix?

Thank you for any guidance.

Iveta