A Fresh Take on JATS: Book Reviews as a Simple, Immediate, and Accessible Gateway to Full-Text Publishing

Abstract

Even as JATS XML has become the standard format for academic publishing, the challenges involved in implementing a JATS XML-based publishing workflow have prevented many library publishers from moving beyond PDF-based publishing. The complicated apparatus of even the most basic scholarly articles complicates XML production considerably. In addition, most existing workflows are reliant on XML conversion tools or paid vendors to convert author submission documents into JATS XML. In either case, these XML documents are time-consuming to produce and often require additional editing and correction before publication. Book reviews, on the other hand, provide a less burdensome format for library publishers who wish to transition to XML publishing. With minimal training, editorial teams can format JATS XML book reviews in-house without resorting to paid vendors or conversion tools. This presentation outlines the successful onboarding of a JATS-only book review journal to the Open Journal Systems platform. To facilitate this, we created a simplified JATS XML template using the DAR tag subset specification to optimize machine readability, avoid redundancy, and ensure reusability. The onboarding process also required customization of the OJS interface and the creation of detailed documentation and training materials for the editorial team. Although the editorial team had no prior experience with OJS or JATS XML, they are now publishing full-text, machine-readable books reviews. As the result of our work, these book reviews will now be more easily indexed and permanently stored as markup in a digital preservation archive. The semantically tagged content will facilitate keyword searches and increase discoverability over the long term. Finally, as a machine-readable format, JATS XML is inherently accessible and includes elements that allow for accessibility tagging and for the creation of interfaces that are both Section 508 and WCAG compliant.