Sergey_Semerikov
Tue, 04 Nov 2025 21:59:46 +0000
Community Showcase

Reviewer Certificate Plugin for OJS 3.4 - Recognize Your Peer Reviewers!

Hello OJS Community!

I’m excited to share the Reviewer Certificate Plugin - a new tool that helps journals automatically generate and distribute personalized PDF certificates to peer reviewers upon completion of their reviews. This plugin was developed to acknowledge and incentivize the invaluable work of peer reviewers in scholarly publishing.

Plugin Information

Plugin Name: Reviewer Certificate Plugin

Version: 1.0.0

Author: Serhiy O. Semerikov (Academy of Cognitive and Natural Sciences)

GitHub: GitHub - ssemerikov/reviewerCertificate

License: GPL v3.0

OJS Compatibility: 3.3.x and 3.4.x

Key Features

Automated Certificate Generation

Certificates automatically become available when reviewers complete their assignments

No manual intervention required from journal managers

Reviewers can download certificates directly from their dashboard

Fully Customizable Templates

Upload custom background images (A4 size)

Configure header, body, and footer text with dynamic variables

Choose fonts, colors, and text sizes

Live preview to test your design before saving

Security & Verification

Each certificate has a unique verification code

Optional QR codes for instant verification

Public verification endpoint for authenticity checks

Access control ensures reviewers only access their own certificates

Additional Features

Batch Generation: Create certificates for historical reviews

Multi-language Support: Full internationalization framework

Download Tracking: Monitor certificate usage

Eligibility Criteria: Set minimum review requirements

TCPDF Bundled: No external dependencies needed!

Quick Installation

# 1. Navigate to your OJS plugins directory
cd /path/to/ojs/plugins/generic/

# 2. Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/ssemerikov/reviewerCertificate.git reviewerCertificate

# 3. Set permissions
chmod -R 755 reviewerCertificate/

# 4. Enable in OJS admin panel
# Settings → Website → Plugins → Find "Reviewer Certificate Plugin" → Enable

Screenshots

Certificate Example

Certificates can be fully customized with your journal’s branding, including:

Custom backgrounds and logos

Personalized text with reviewer name, journal name, and submission details

Professional formatting with chosen fonts and colors

QR codes for easy verification

Settings Interface

The plugin provides an intuitive settings panel where you can:

Design certificate templates using template variables like {{$reviewerName}}, {{$journalName}}, {{$submissionTitle}}

Upload background images

Configure eligibility criteria

Preview certificates before going live

How It Works

For Reviewers

1. Complete a peer review assignment

2. After submission, a blue notification box appears: “Your Certificate is Ready!”

3. Click “Download Certificate” to get the PDF

4. Save for professional portfolio or CV

For Journal Managers

1. Install and enable the plugin

2. Configure certificate template in plugin settings

3. Certificates generate automatically for new reviews

4. Use batch generation for existing completed reviews

Development with AI

This plugin was developed with the assistance of Claude Code (Sonnet 4.5) by Anthropic. The AI-powered coding assistant helped throughout the development process with:

Code Architecture: Designing the plugin structure and component organization

OJS Integration: Ensuring compatibility with OJS 3.3.x and 3.4.x APIs

Testing & Debugging: Identifying and fixing compatibility issues

Documentation: Creating comprehensive user and technical documentation

Code Quality: Analyzing and optimizing code for production use

This modern development approach enabled rapid delivery of production-ready code with comprehensive testing and documentation.

Technical Requirements

OJS: 3.3.x or 3.4.x (tested on 3.4)

PHP: 7.3+ (PHP 8.0+ compatible)

PHP Extensions: GD/Imagick, mbstring, zip

TCPDF: Bundled (v6.10.0) - no separate installation needed!

Perfect For

Journals wanting to recognize reviewer contributions

Building reviewer loyalty and engagement

Providing verifiable credentials for reviewer portfolios

Encouraging quality peer review work

Meeting funder requirements for reviewer recognition

Documentation

Comprehensive documentation is available in the GitHub repository:

README.md: Complete plugin documentation

INSTALL.md: Detailed installation guide

REVIEWER_WORKFLOW.md: User workflows and access instructions

OJS_3.4_COMPATIBILITY.md: Technical compatibility details

CODE_ANALYSIS_REPORT.md: Architecture and development analysis

Support & Contributing

Issues/Bugs: Please report on GitHub Issues

Questions: Feel free to ask here in the forum or contact me directly

Contributions: Pull requests are welcome!

Contact

Serhiy O. Semerikov
Academy of Cognitive and Natural Sciences
Email: semerikov@gmail.com

Why This Plugin?

Peer reviewers are the backbone of scholarly publishing, yet their contributions often go unrecognized. This plugin provides a simple, automated way to acknowledge their work with professional certificates they can add to their CVs, tenure files, or professional portfolios.

The certificates are fully customizable to match your journal’s branding and can include verification features to ensure authenticity. With support for batch generation, you can even recognize reviewers retroactively for their past contributions.

Feedback Welcome!

I’d love to hear your thoughts, suggestions, and experiences with the plugin. Please feel free to share feedback here or on GitHub. If you find it useful, consider giving it a on GitHub!

Thank you to the PKP community for creating such an excellent platform that makes plugins like this possible!

Developed for the Open Journal Systems community to support and recognize the invaluable contributions of peer reviewers to scholarly publishing.

11 posts - 5 participants