Taking the Leap: Experiences Planning and Implementing a Migration to OJS 3

Abstract

The Public Knowledge Project announced the release of Open Journal Systems (OJS) 3 in August 2016. In addition to a more streamlined interface OJS 3 offers important functionality, including more flexible roles, new plugins, and even the ability to operationalize XML-first publishing.

However, almost two years after the official release, several library publishers have not yet migrated to the newest version of OJS. In addition to the technical support needed to successfully plan and execute the migration, implementation often involves extensive outreach to editors on system changes and new functionality.

At the same time, library publishers that do decide to migrate often work in isolation, asking colleagues on listservs, Github, or other online forums for advice or information about their experience migrating. There are no formal community-developed outreach materials for library publishers to share communally and implement locally.

This session, presented at the 2018 Library Publishing Forum, presents three case studies on the transition to OJS 3. One case study, from the University of Minnesota, explores the migration from bepress to OJS 3. Two others, from Indiana University and Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, explores migrating a multi-site instance from OJS 2 to OJS 3. Each case study is grounded in information about the library publishing program, timeline, size of the department, and level of technical support available.

The presentation includes tangible outreach materials on the update. These include communication templates, training outlines, videos, and wikis created to support journal editors transition to OJS 3. The session also presents obstacles to success.