Preparing your OJS journal for indexing applications
Most journal indexes have common requirements for transparency and clarification around journal information and policies. It’s a good idea to prepare for your application by ensuring that your journal is following these guidelines:
- Name of journal - The journal name should be clear, unique, and not misleading or confusing. The name should be clearly displayed on the journal homepage either as text or in the logo image, as well as in the journal summary (Settings > Journal).
- Editorial Board - Information on the Editorial board should indicate affiliation, geographical location, curriculum vitae/resume, institutional or personal homepage, preferably showing scientific credibility, current affiliation and affiliation history, and awards and grants received. The Editorial board information can be added in the Journals Masthead (Settings > Journal). Alternatively, if you have a larger editorial board, you can create a separate page to add all this information by creating a new page (navigation item) in Settings > Website > Setup > Navigation.
Example: Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine
- Author and Author responsibility - The journal should indicate guidelines on the submission process and criteria. This information can be added within the Author Submission Guidelines (Settings > Workflow > Submission).
Example: Journal of Community Safety & Well-Being
- Peer Review Process - The journal should indicate the type of peer review process they are using. All journals applying to Scopus must have a peer-review system. All content must be subject to review, objective, and have no conflict of interest. This information can be added within the Author Submission Guidelines, as well as information for Reviewers.
- Publication Ethics - The journal should indicate what measures are in place to prevent misconduct and procedures to address misconduct. This information can be added in the About the Journal page or on a new page (navigation item) with journal policies.
Example: Polar Research
- Access - The journal should include information on how potential readers can get access to the full-text articles published in the journal. This information could be included in the journal summary (Settings > Journal) and/or the journal sidebar. For subscription journals, OJS will display this in the sidebar on most themes.
Example: Journal of Forensic Document Examination
- Publication Schedule - The journal should indicate clearly how often it is published. This information can be displayed on the About the Journal Page (Settings > Journal)
Example: Wildlife Rehabilitation Bulletin
- Ownership & Management - The journal should clearly indicate who owns and manages the journal. This information can be displayed on the About the Journal Page, Sidebar, or Footer.
Example: Canadian Journal of Health Technologies
- Website - Ensure that the journal information is relevant and according to standards.
Review that there is no outdated or inaccurate information and broken links. Having up-to-date information on the journal website is very important, as it demonstrates clearly an ongoing commitment to the development and sustainability of the journal.
