The document summarizes how Ubiquity Press built a scalable publishing platform by extensively modifying the open-source journal management system OJS. They improved OJS's scalability to support multiple journals, integrated external services like typesetting and metrics tracking, fixed issues, and added features like customization options, article-level metrics, and indexing. The resulting platform allows for efficient, low-cost publishing of many journals with automated processes and a full suite of professional publishing features.

1. brian.hole@ubiquitypress.com
www.ubiquitypress.com
/
@ubiquitypress
Brian
Hole:
OJS
Forum,
Edinburgh,
31
July
2013
Building
a
scalable,
sustainable
service
with
OJS

2. brian.hole@ubiquitypress.com
www.ubiquitypress.com
/
@ubiquitypress
Overview
 The problem
 The solution
 Aspects of
modification
 The resulting
product

3. brian.hole@ubiquitypress.com
www.ubiquitypress.com
/
@ubiquitypress
Problem:
needed
a
large,
scalable
journals
pla=orm
 Experience
from
Elsevier,
BioMed
Central,
Dryad.
 Commercial
plaLorms:
 are
expensive
 have
a
limited
feature
set
 are
difficult
to
customise
 Self-­‐built
plaLorms:
 are
expensive
and
Ome-­‐consuming
to
build
 require
constant
maintenance
 sOll
scale
poorly

4. brian.hole@ubiquitypress.com
www.ubiquitypress.com
/
@ubiquitypress
Solu>on:
invest
in
modifying
OJS
 Pros:
 OJS
has
80%
of
the
features
of
commercial
plaLorms
 Is
good
for
individual
journals
 Free
and
open
source
 Cons:
 Quickly
becomes
difficult
to
manage
with
mulOple
journals
 Does
not
look
good
out
of
the
box
 Many
features
required
by
professional
publishers
are
absent
or
very
buggy
 E.g.
XML
rendering,
DOI
registraOon,
metrics

5. brian.hole@ubiquitypress.com
www.ubiquitypress.com
/
@ubiquitypress
Aspects
of
modifica>on
1. Improving
scalability
2. IntegraOng
external
services
3. Internal
fixes
4. Adding
features

6. brian.hole@ubiquitypress.com
www.ubiquitypress.com
/
@ubiquitypress
1.
Improving
scalability
 Need
mulOple
journals
on
one
plaLorm,
with
individual
look
and
feel,
good
performance
 Not
possible
with
vanilla
OJS
–
either
all
same
in
one
install,
or
mulOple
installs
required
 Separated
core
files
from
customised
 Built
separate
back
end
system
to
amalgamate
all
journal
data
for
reporOng,
centralised
display
and
metrics
 Enabled
spreading
over
mulOple
web,
DB
and
file
servers
 Results:
 New
journals
can
be
rolled
out
very
quickly
 Individual
journal
customisaOon
is
simple
 So_ware
updates
are
quick
and
painless
 Can
run
a
very
large
number
of
journals
without
performance
loss

7. brian.hole@ubiquitypress.com
www.ubiquitypress.com
/
@ubiquitypress
2.
Integra>ng
external
services
 XML
typese`ng
done
offshore
 Typesecers
are
automaOcally
noOfied
of
arOcles
ready
for
producOon
 Then
log
in
to
access
files,
liaise
with
authors
re.
correcOons,
upload
final
XML
 APC
billing
 IntegraOon
with
the
OAK
system
(tesOng
prototype
now,
already
expanding
it
with
own
features)
 External
data
repositories
 Currently
working
on
integraOon
with
Dryad
and
Dataverse
 InsOtuOonal
repositories
 Working
on
integraOon
with
SymplecOc,
ePrints

8. brian.hole@ubiquitypress.com
www.ubiquitypress.com
/
@ubiquitypress
3.
Internal
fixes
 Improved
XML
rendering
 Fixed
DOI
export
to
CrossRef
 Fixed
archiving
code
for
CLOCKSS
 MulOple
issues
with
submission
system

9. brian.hole@ubiquitypress.com
www.ubiquitypress.com
/
@ubiquitypress
4.
Added
features
 Professional
customisaOon
of
look
and
feel
 ConOnuous
publishing
view
of
arOcles
 Special
collecOons
 Improved
arOcle
informaOon:
how
to
cite,
license,
peer
review
 Centrally-­‐controlled
adverOsing
 ArOcle-­‐level
metrics
 ArOcle
views,
downloads
(counter-­‐compliant),
citaOons
 Altmetrics
(tweets,
h
likes,
Zotero
bookmarks,
Wikipedia
citaOons)
 Journal
metrics:
most
recent,
most
cited
 Social
media
feeds
(twicer,
blogs)
 Automated
indexing
for
20+
services
 Automated
deposit
of
DOIs
and
references
to
CrossRef

10. brian.hole@ubiquitypress.com
www.ubiquitypress.com
/
@ubiquitypress

11. brian.hole@ubiquitypress.com
www.ubiquitypress.com
/
@ubiquitypress

12. brian.hole@ubiquitypress.com
www.ubiquitypress.com
/
@ubiquitypress

13. brian.hole@ubiquitypress.com
www.ubiquitypress.com
/
@ubiquitypress

14. brian.hole@ubiquitypress.com
www.ubiquitypress.com
/
@ubiquitypress
The
resul>ng
product
 A_er
2
developer
years:
 Highly
scalable,
low
cost
plaLorm
 Enables
quick,
efficient
publishing
with
many
automated
aspects
 Full-­‐suite
of
professional
features,
many
more
being
added
 Uses:
 MulOple
individual
journals
for
small
socieOes
 Customised
journal
plaLorms
for
larger
socieOes,
with
income
generaOng
ability
to
enable
transiOon
to
open
access
 University
Press
plaLorms

15. brian.hole@ubiquitypress.com
www.ubiquitypress.com
/
@ubiquitypress
University
Presses
 Aim
is
to
enable
universiOes
and
their
libraries
to
run
a
professional
press
affordably
 Fully
rebranded
press
runs
on
our
infrastructure,
can
be
embedded
in
insOtuOonal
website
 We
take
care
of
technology,
development,
producOon
and
final
publishing
 Press/library
takes
care
of
relaOonship
with
university’s
academics
 Covers
journals,
books,
data
 Small
amount
of
customisaOon
cost,
rest
is
fully
funded
by
APCs

16. brian.hole@ubiquitypress.com
www.ubiquitypress.com
/
@ubiquitypress
For
more
informa>on:
Any
ques)ons?
Brian.hole@ubiquitypress.com
@ubiquitypress
hcp://www.ubiquitypress.com