Digital Publishing

Share your research with the world. We help TXST faculty, staff, and students publish original and peer-reviewed research online.

Open Journal Systems

The Texas State University Libraries provides open journal hosting services to all TXST faculty, staff, and students. Through our membership in the Texas Digital Library consortium, journals are published using Open Journals System (OJS), an open-source editorial management and publishing system. OJS provides a professional online presence and can be used to manage some or all of the stages of the journal publishing process: submissions, peer review, the editorial process, online publishing, and indexing. Articles are licensed for reuse using a Creative Commons license.

New Journal Checklist

Below are things to consider before starting a new journal with Texas State University's Digital Publishing Team. All of our journals are hosted through Open Journal Systems. They are fully open access and licensed for reuse using a Creative Commons license.

Considerations

Funding

Editorial Board

Define the Scope

What need will this journal be filling?
What discipline(s) does this journal fall into?
Does this journal offer a unique contribution to the field?

How will this journal be funded?
Who will be contributing their time?
How will they be compensated?

Who will serve on your editorial board?
How will the journal be maintained over time?
Can it be sustained for at least three years?

What is the aim of your journal?
What does this journal hope to accomplish?
How will the journal accomplish its purpose?
What types of contributions will the journal accept?
What parameters are there for rejection of content?

Migrating an Existing Journal to OJS

We can work with existing journal editors to determine eligibility and feasibility for migrating your existing journal to the Open Journal Systems platform.

Current Platform

Numbers

Identifiers

What current digital platform are you using?
Has your journal been in print, only digital, or a combination?
Are there features you are looking for, such as audio/visual needs?

Approximately how many issues have been published?
What is the average publication schedule (e.g., annually, bi-annually, monthly)?
Approximately how many issues do you plan to publish each year?

Does your journal currently have an ISSN identifier?
Does your journal currently include minting Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs)?
Do you currently incorporate ORCID iDs for authors?

Featured Journals

New Journal Request Form

Ready to host your open access journal in the OJS platform? Fill out the open journal request form and get started today.

New Journal Request Form

New ISSN Request Form

Does your journal need persistent identifiers like an ISSN or DOI? Start here by filling out a request for an ISSN.

New ISSN Request Form

Frequently Asked Questions

Expand FAQ List

How long does it take for my journal to be set up once I submit the New Journal Request Form?

It usually takes between 2-4 weeks for your journal to be ready for editing.
What is meant by a "URL slug or acronym" for the journal?

All of our hosted journals include the prefix "https://journals.tdl.org/" which will be followed by a slug/acronym for the journal.
For example, the Journal of College and Academic Support Programs (J-CASP) utilizes the "jcasp" slug and the URL is "https://journals.tdl.org/jcasp"
Does OJS support assigning Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs)?

Yes. The journal manager(s) will need a membership with Crossref, Datacite, or another DOI registration agency and there is typically a fee. For more information on getting started and using the DOI plugin for OJS, see: https://docs.pkp.sfu.ca/crossref-ojs-manual/en/gettingStarted
You are not required to assign DOIs in your journal, but it is useful. This is often where some funding to support the journal comes in, as you will need to setup the DOI registration and pay the associated fees.
How do I ensure my journal is indexed to maximize discovery?
There are a few options for indexing your journal. The three that we recommend are:
Register with the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
Register with EBSCO (Form for registering)
Include your journal in the TXST Institutional Repository.
Typically, registering for your journal to be indexed requires that you have published at least 1-2 issues.
Including current or past issues of your journal in the Institutional Repository will help your journal get indexed in Google and Google Scholar faster. In addition, you can ensure long-term preservation of your journal regardless of any changes.
What options are there for customizing the theme, colors, design, etc. in Open Journal Systems?

OJS comes with built-in theme, layout, and color options to choose from. You are also welcome to go in and edit the CSS or graphics that you'd like.
More information is available in the Public Knowledge Project OJS Themes site: https://docs.pkp.sfu.ca/pkp-theming-guide/en/
Could I test out Open Journal Systems before deciding if it is a good option for my new journal?

Yes. We can setup a "sandbox" or test OJS site for you to experiment in before creating your new journal. The Texas Digital Library (TDL) also has a training and testing OJS instance that you can be given access to for experimenting and learning your way through OJS.
Contact us and we will send login information: kvandiest@txstate.edu
Is there a way to publish articles and issues without the full editorial workflow?

Yes. There are many tools and plugins already in OJS that you may find useful. One is the Quick Submit Plugin. This allows automatic publishing of an article or issue without the full editorial process, which may be useful if you have a few existing issues or articles in a backlog or if you have an existing external editorial workflow and are just using OJS to publish and display. More information is available in the Public Knowledge Project Tools tutorials: https://docs.pkp.sfu.ca/learning-ojs/en/tools.html