OJS only as a peer-review system?

I have seen old questions from people but haven’t seen the answer, maybe there is in the new versions.
Is there a way to use OJS only as a submission and peer-review system, and have a separate web-site for the online publishing?

Vesko

Hi Vesko – yes, you can do this.

It does require running two separate systems (OJS for submissions and your web site for display) and manually moving content from one system to the other. You do also lose some of the publishing value of OJS, such as LOCKSS integration, exporting data to the DOAJ, etc. Be sure to check out the display improvements coming to OJS 3 later this year (see our news blog), which will hopefully make using a separate system less necessary!

When OJS 3 will be out approximately?

Can you tell me where in the current version are these options so I can tell OJS that I will use the journal only for submissions and not for displaying issues online?

We don’t have a clear release date yet, but it will be before the end of the year.

There aren’t any software options for this, you simply choose when to stop using OJS.

For example, you could install OJS, style it to match your main web site, and label it “Journal of Chemistry Submission + Review System”. Link to it from your main site, and people can use it to register, submit, and review. One the review is done, just move the content (manually) to your main site.

Hi @vebaev,

I’m not sure if you saw this, but on Journal Setup step 4, under “4.1 Access and Security Settings”, there are a few options for configuring OJS 2.x to publish. Try selecting the option “OJS will not be used to publish the journal’s contents online.” This will tell OJS not to act as a host for published content, and you can still use the workflow.

Regards,
Alec Smecher
Public Knowledge Project Team

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Thanks, probably I did not see that option :slightly_smiling:

Two quick questions:

  • Is it better to wait the version 3 and start using it or the update from 2.x → 3 will be painless and smooth so it will not interrupt any ongoing process?

  • If I select “OJS will not be used to publish the journal’s contents online.”, and at some point in future we want to use OJS also for online publishing it is safe to turn it on when already the process begins and information has been submitted in the system?

Hi @vebaev,

The upgrade will take all your content (submissions, peer reviews, publication status, etc.) from OJS 2.4 to 3.0, but many things have changed, so it’ll be advisable to explore a test installation a little before you make the jump, especially if you’re on a tight publication schedule. We’ve made a lot of changes with OJS 3.0 that weren’t possible to make incrementally with OJS 2.x, and I hope it’ll justify a little work in making the shift. We’ll continue supporting OJS 2.x for quite a while, so there’ll be no need to upgrade until you’re ready.

If you do decide later to use OJS for publication, you can just throw the switch and OJS will make the content available via the website.

Regards,
Alec Smecher
Public Knowledge Project Team

So probably it will be better to wait the release 3 and than introducing the system in the journal ans start using it.