Describe the problem you would like to solve
Currently, when authors submit articles in OJS, they have to manually separate each keyword when entering them into the metadata form. This can lead to errors, inconsistencies, and requires additional time for data entry. Authors often copy and paste keywords from other documents, and without automatic processing, the system may retain unwanted punctuation marks or merge keywords into a single entry, complicating further search and indexing.
Describe the solution you’d like
It is proposed to add an automatic keyword processing feature in OJS. This feature would automatically split keywords entered with delimiters such as commas, semicolons, and periods. When an author enters keywords in a single field using any of these delimiters, the system should detect and process each word or phrase as a separate keyword. Additionally, the feature should remove any extra spaces around each term to ensure proper formatting. For example, if an author enters “Vocational Education, workplace training; career, profession. ICT,” the system should process and save them as individual keywords:
- Vocational Education
- workplace training
- career
- profession
- ICT
This automation would simplify the submission process, reduce data entry errors, and support more accurate metadata handling.
Who is asking for this feature
This feature is primarily requested by journal administrators and editors who handle article submissions and metadata, as well as by authors submitting articles to journals using OJS. Technical support teams would also benefit, as this feature would reduce the number of metadata errors that require manual correction.