OJS Journal Launch Checklist

Prepare the journal before opening submissions

OJS works best when editorial policy and responsibility are clear. Confirm journal scope, sections, roles, review model, author guidance, ethics, privacy, copyright, licensing, issue schedule, identifiers, and the people responsible for each stage from submission to publication.

Journal launch checklist

• Configure journal managers, editors, section editors, reviewers, authors, and least-privilege permissions.
• Define submission requirements, declarations, review forms, decision templates, production steps, and publication checks.
• Standardize article, contributor, affiliation, abstract, keyword, reference, issue, and identifier metadata.
• Test registration, submission, assignment, review, revision, copyediting, production, scheduling, and publication end to end.
• Validate email delivery, scheduled tasks, file permissions, HTTPS, backups, updates, plugins, analytics, and indexing readiness.

Make the public journal trustworthy

Readers should quickly understand the journal’s scope, editorial board, policies, contact details, archives, and publication status. Use a restrained responsive theme, accessible navigation, clear article pages, consistent issue presentation, and metadata that search engines and scholarly services can interpret.

Test the complete editorial journey

Create test users for every role and move a sample article through the full workflow. Check notifications, blinded files, revisions, decisions, production formats, issue assignment, publication dates, citations, downloads, and post-publication corrections. Resolve ambiguity before inviting real authors.

Keep the platform maintainable

Record the OJS version, plugins, theme changes, mail configuration, scheduled jobs, file locations, update procedure, and recovery owner. Back up the database, public files, private files, and configuration. Review compatibility before upgrades and validate submission and publication again afterward.