No, I’m not praising OJ Simpson. I’m praising the Open Journal Systems:
Open Journal Systems (OJS) is a journal management and publishing system that has been developed by the Public Knowledge Project through its federally funded efforts to expand and improve access to research. …
OJS is open source software made freely available to journals worldwide for the purpose of making open access publishing a viable option for more journals, as open access can increase a journal’s readership as well as its contribution to the public good on a global scale (see PKP Publications).
I’ve been paying attention to the initiation of two new ‘Platinum‘ OA journals that have recently been added to the list of journals using OJS. They are Open Medicine and Open Access Research. The former is, I think, off to a very good start. The latter hasn’t published its first issue yet. I’m looking forward to seeing it.
I’ve recently had my first personal experience with serving as a reviewer for one of these journals, and I was very favorably impressed by the manner in which the software performed its tasks. Except for a couple of minor glitches (probably my own fault), I experienced no difficulties with the downloading of the manuscript to be reviewed, with the uploading my review, or with any of the few other steps involved in the automated review process.
Well done, all of those involved in the Public Knowledge Project, a “three-way partnership under the direction of John Willinsky, with the Faculty of Education at the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University Library, and SFU’s Canadian Centre for Studies in Publishing” (see OJS Credits).
Can such ‘Platinum’ OA journals achieve and maintain a consistently high standard? I fervently hope so.
tillje said
Comment received from Peter Suber and posted on his behalf: