Kotahi review
Kotahi combines configurable manuscript workflows with publishing and multi-group hosting.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
Kotahi is an open-source scholarly publishing system for academic journals, preprint communities, research groups and publish-review-curate workflows. It supports individual and bulk manuscript or research-object submissions, configurable intake forms, and conference submissions. Publishers can shape submission, review and publishing processes, including customizable peer review and multiple review rounds. Its breadth makes it relevant to organizations that need to manage more than intake alone, especially when multiple groups share publishing infrastructure.
Publishing options are a central strength: Kotahi offers single-source editing with JATS, HTML and PDF export, plus a built-in CMS and publishing to external endpoints. It also integrates with DOAJ, Crossref, DataCite, Semantic Scholar and COAR Notify. Multitenancy allows multiple groups to run in one instance, while a plugin architecture and API-based extensibility support adapting the system to organizational needs. Task management, in-app chat and alerts provide workflow coordination features alongside manuscript versioning and metadata capture.
Kotahi is open source and publishes no license fees; managed hosting and implementation are offered as service models, but their prices are not published. Deployment options include cloud and self-hosted, and support channels include email, community resources and documentation. The flexibility is best suited to publishers prepared to configure and manage workflows rather than teams seeking a narrowly defined, ready-made submission process. Organizations whose main requirement is detailed reviewer or editorial tooling should compare alternatives carefully; Kotahi's clearest fit is adaptable, multi-group publishing infrastructure.
Kotahi pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Accepts individual and bulk manuscript or research-object submissions
- Supports configurable peer review, including multi-round processes
- Exports JATS, HTML and PDF and can publish through a built-in CMS
- Where it doesn't
- Managed hosting and implementation have no published prices
- Its adaptable workflows may demand more setup than a fixed submission tool
- Reviewer and editorial tooling is less detailed than its workflow capabilities
Kotahi fact sheet, pricing and score →
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