Open Journal Systems review
A free, open-source system for managing journal submissions through publication.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
Open Journal Systems (OJS) is an open-source web platform for scholarly journals, intended for universities, scholarly societies, libraries, and publishing organizations. It covers the path from author submission through peer review and editorial production to online issue and article publishing. A configurable submission wizard guides authors, while editors can assign reviewers, set due dates, and send reminders. Its scope makes it a fit for organizations that want journal operations and publishing in one system, rather than a tool focused only on collecting manuscripts.
OJS can run on cloud infrastructure or be self-hosted, including on shared hosting, on-premise servers, VPS, and cloud providers. A single installation can operate multiple journals. The platform also exposes an API and supports metadata distribution through OAI-PMH and discovery services. Integrations include Google Scholar, Crossref, DOAJ, DataCite, and PubMed, along with ORCID authentication and ROR affiliation integration. These connections suit organizations that need journal workflows to fit into scholarly discovery and researcher-identification ecosystems.
OJS itself is free GPL software; PKP separately offers hosting and other paid services. The system also includes article-level statistics, editorial metrics, and long-term preservation integrations, including the PKP Preservation Network, CLOCKSS, and LOCKSS. Its support channels are community and documentation, so organizations should consider who will manage their installation and operational needs. OJS supports conference workflows through its flexible editorial process, but conference registration and scheduling may call for separate tools. Journals seeking an end-to-end publishing workflow with multi-journal support should consider OJS; teams primarily needing a dedicated conference-management system may prefer a more conference-focused option.
Open Journal Systems pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Connects submission, peer review, editorial work, and production in one workflow
- Runs one or many journals from a single installation
- Supports indexing, researcher identifiers, and preservation integrations
- Where it doesn't
- Conference registration and scheduling may require separate tools
- Self-hosting requires an infrastructure choice and installation
- Support channels are community and documentation
Open Journal Systems fact sheet, pricing and score →
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