After submitting to a handful of academic journals, you have probably spotted that several of them use a submission portal that looks almost the same. In most cases that is OJS (Open Journal Systems) — free, open-source software that thousands of journals around the world rely on to run their whole publishing workflow. Recognising the platform helps you know what to expect before you start uploading files.
What OJS Really Is
OJS is open-source software built by the Public Knowledge Project (PKP) so that journals can handle submission, peer review, editing and online publishing within one end-to-end system. A journal, often one lacking a large technical team, gets a professional online presence for submissions and management without having to develop custom software from nothing.
What OJS Means for Authors
For authors, OJS offers a step-by-step submission wizard: you create an account, upload the manuscript with its metadata, and can sign in again whenever you like to follow its progress through screening, review and, if accepted, production. Email alone is not usually how you communicate — status changes and reviewer decisions normally arrive through the same portal. Keep your login details somewhere safe, because you will return to the portal several times.
What OJS Means for Editors
Editorial staff use OJS to handle the entire workflow: appointing reviewers, monitoring review deadlines, supervising copyediting and layout, and releasing finished issues. It lets an editorial team run a properly structured review process without needing bespoke infrastructure.
How Roles Work in OJS
OJS is role-based: editorial staff receive particular roles (author, reviewer, section editor, journal manager) and get different dashboards and permissions according to each one. One person may hold several roles and move between them — a journal manager can also review a specific submission, for example.
What OJS Cannot Tell You
At-a-Glance Checklist
- Software understoodA tool, not a badge
- Workflow checkedReviewers and decisions
- Journal judgedOn its own policies
- Metadata exportedFor indexing
- Security updatedBy the journal
Who Develops OJS and How Journals Use It
Open Journal Systems comes from the Public Knowledge Project (PKP), a non-profit initiative that also maintains related open-source tools for monographs and preprints. Journals of every kind worldwide, from university publications to society titles, run on OJS since it costs nothing to use and covers the full editorial workflow.
Submission
Authors sign up, upload files and follow their manuscript from a single place.
Review
Editors appoint reviewers, set deadlines and log decisions with an audit trail.
Production
Copyediting, layout and proofreading stages lead up to the published issue.
Publishing
Issues, article pages and metadata go online and can be harvested by indexes.
Assessing a Journal That Uses OJS: Look Past the Software
OJS costs nothing and is used widely, so its familiar look reveals nothing about a journal's quality. Examine the journal itself:
- Editorial board — real people who can be verified and who have relevant expertise
- Peer review policy — a clearly stated review model, plus evidence that it is really followed
- Fees and policies — made public before submission, with charges applied only after acceptance
- Indexing claims — something you can confirm in the databases themselves
- Archive and identifiers — an ISSN, DOIs wherever they are claimed, and a steady archive of earlier issues
Working Smoothly Inside an Online Submission System
Most journals now use web-based systems to receive and track manuscripts. Knowing how to work within one saves time and prevents small mistakes from delaying your paper.
- Create one stable account. Register with an email address you will keep long term, and avoid duplicate accounts. Notifications about decisions and revisions are sent there, so accuracy matters.
- Prepare files before logging in. Keep the manuscript, anonymised copy, figures and cover letter ready in the required formats. Uploading in a single sitting reduces errors and half-finished submissions.
- Complete metadata carefully. Enter title, abstract, keywords and author details exactly as in your manuscript. This information travels with the article, so inconsistencies are awkward to fix later.
- Check notification settings. Whitelist the journal's sending address and look in spam folders regularly. A missed request for revision can silently stall a paper for weeks.
- Keep your own submission log. Save confirmation emails, version files and dates of every action. A simple log helps you respond to editors precisely and settle queries quickly.
Treat the submission system as part of your manuscript, entering every detail carefully and keeping your own record of each step.
Questions Researchers Often Ask
Your Paper's Journey at JMVRA, From Submission to Publication
- SubmitReceive your paper ID
- ScreenScope & similarity
- ReviewDouble-blind
- DecideEmail & SMS
- RevisionComment by comment
- AcceptCopyright & fee
- ProduceDOI at the author's request
- PublishMonthly issue
How long review takes depends on the reviewers and on any revision required, so no set turnaround is promised; you are told of acceptance or rejection by email and WhatsApp.
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