OJS 3.3.0.10
When creating a user who is “Author” (which is unlike all other user roles), the “Country” field is mandatory.
When it is empty, we get the message: “This field is required.”
However, in rare cases where a journal or author is not interested in using this field, it should be left blank.
How can we fix this problem?
It’s possible, but it requires tweaking OJS and the theme, and it needs to be repeated after each upgrade. This link may give you some guidance.
Best regards,
Josh
There is probably a good reason for the default to require a country field from authors. Some indexing agencies such as Clarivate Web of Science and Scopus require evidence of regional diversity from authors. Specifically, the guidelines from Clarivate state that “Names and institutional affiliations – including country – and addresses of all contributing authors are required.” If you fail to collect country, then you put the indexing of your journal at risk.
Dear @ kmccurley,
Thank you for this comment. However, in some cases (due to political matters, times of war, etc.) it seems reasonable to me to avoid this request.
Kind regards,
Michal