All PKP software is released under the open source GPL v3 license, and you are free to download, use and modify it at no charge so long as you obey the rules of the license.
You can download OJS and view the server requirements on our website.
User guides and training videos are available that will guide you through the installation, configuration, and operation of the software.
All PKP software is released under the open source GPL v3 license, and you are free to download, use and modify it at no charge so long as you obey the rules of the license.
You can download OMP and view the server requirements on our website.
Documentation is available that will guide you through the installation, configuration, and operation of the software.
OJS, OMP, and OPS all require a web server and technical support to host the software. If your organization is unable to provide these services, it is recommended that you use a professional hosting service provider. OJS, OMP, and OPS must be hosted on a web server that meets the minimal requirements detailed on our website. See also our checklist for starting a new journal.
Choosing to host software yourself entails a major obligation to maintain the service in a secure and accessible manner. The server and software application need to be maintained by a competent systems administrator who can do the following:
User guides (including the PKP Administrator’s Guide and training videos are available on the PKP Docs Hub to guide you through the installation, configuration, and operation of the software. We also provide a free, online support forum where you can search for answers and post any unanswered questions that may arise.
PKP offers a fee-based hosting service for publishers that lack the technical infrastructure and/or expertise to host our software. Our services include: installation and hosting; daily backups of your data; security patches and upgrades; and priority answering of your support questions. All revenue received from these services goes back into our project. By hosting with PKP Publishing Services you make a direct contribution to our software development, research, education, and community support. More information and prices are available on the PKP Publishing Services website.
You can also research online or post on the PKP Community Forum to find other hosting providers. Many higher education institutions and academic libraries offer journal hosting services. Some library consortia offer these services as well. If you are an open access journal located in Canada, free OJS hosting is available from the University of Alberta Library.
Starting an open access journal follows the same key steps as traditional journal formats. There are a number of factors you need to consider including funding models and copyright. We offer documentation and PKP School courses related to this topic. To help determine funding models, see Sustainability Models and Revenue Sources in our Journal Policies and Workflows guide, and Becoming an Editor Module 8, Units 11-13 in PKP School. For help on copyright licensing, we recommend the Copyright and Licensing information in Journal Policies and Workflows, and Becoming an Editor Module 11. PKP also has a checklist for setting up your new OJS journal.
Whether it is best to host your journals on one installation or several will depend on your situation. We typically host journals on separate installations as there are a few places where separate journals on the same installation can impact each other, these include:
If you maintain a clean environment, e.g. all installations of OJS are kept current and things like file permissions are standardized, it is possible to perform maintenance tasks like upgrades on large numbers of installations painlessly (although obviously not as quickly as if you maintain only one installation). It’s largely a political decision – if your journals need complete autonomy, it’s probably best to install separate copies of OJS. If they tend to fall into logical groups, perhaps a few installations with several journals apiece would be best.
Finding help is easy. PKP offers the following free supports to help software users:
There is also a “Help” link on the top right corner of every page in OJS, OMP, and OPS where you can find information about the current page and its functions.
All of our documentation and tutorials are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Users are free to share and adapt documentation developed for our software.