Re: Open access and publishing software

["Anthony Watkinson" <anthony.watkinson@btopenworld.com>]

The survey and analysis I am familiar with is described at 
<http://www.alpsp.org/ngen_public/article.asp?id=200&did=47&aid=274&st=&oaid=-1>

It is by Mark Ware and published by ALPSP.

This describes the most used systems and refers to some of the 
others.

How does Heather know that there are 800 journals using the 
software she recommends if she does not know which ones they are?

Anthony

----- Original Message -----
From: "Heather Morrison" <heatherm@eln.bc.ca>
To: <liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, March 13, 2007 1:54 AM
Subject: Open access and publishing software

> Redirected from:  Misperceptions clarified.
>
> Open Journal Systems is an open source publishing software, 
> used by about 800 journals, around the world, primarily but not 
> exclusively for open access publishing.  There are many OJS 
> hosting services; some, like Scholarly Exchange, are open to 
> providing services on a fee-for-service basis, while others are 
> designed to meet local needs.
>
> Because these journals are on a variety of hosts, there is no 
> central list.  This makes sense - OJS is just the software; 
> there is no central list of all documents created using 
> Microsoft Word, or Open Document Format, either.
>
> There are many other publishing platforms which automate a 
> great deal of the work of publishing.  Some are open source, 
> others are proprietary.
>
> There are open access publishers employing an article 
> processing fee business model who have very reasonable prices, 
> although they use a different software than OJS.  To find out 
> exactly why, you would have to ask each publisher about their 
> own decisions.  OJS has only been around for a few years, so 
> open access publishers who started early on likely have 
> developed their own software.
>
> One example of OA publishers with low article processing fees 
> is Hindawi (who use their own publishing software, not OJS), 
> already reporting profits at fees of about $500 US per article, 
> and the for- profit BioMedCentral (also locally developed 
> software).
>
> My experience of Open Journal Systems is primarily as an 
> Editor, Theory / Research for Partnership: the Canadian Journal 
> of Library and Information Practice and Research, an open 
> access journal, at: 
> <http://journal.lib.uoguelph.ca/index.php/perj/>
>
> I'm impressed!  It is easy to see how OJS greatly simplifies 
> the work of an Editor.  I can easily track all the articles in 
> my area from submission until completion of my portion of the 
> work. There is ready access to contact information for our pool 
> of peer reviewers and authors of works in process (one click to 
> assign a peer reviewer, a second click to initiate an e-mail 
> message). Deadline dates are automatically tracked; I can see 
> at a glance what is coming up soon, if a review is overdue, 
> etc.  Automated messages are available, but are flexible so 
> that editors can add a personal touch if they like. Editorial 
> decisions can be recorded using a drop-down menu.  I can access 
> my editorial workspace from anywhere with an internet 
> connection, making it easy to keep up.  The tracking features 
> alone convince me that OJS is scalable far beyond my human 
> limitations for editorial work.
>
> More information about Open Journal Systems can be found at: 
> <http://pkp.sfu.ca/?q=ojs>
>
> Any opinion expressed in this message is mine alone, and does 
> not reflect the opinion or policy of BC Electronic Library 
> Network, Simon Fraser University Library, or Partnership:  the 
> Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and 
> Research.
>
> Heather Morrison
> http://poeticeconomics.blogspot.com