Abstract

David Lawrence
Linköping University Electronic Press, Linköping, Sweden

Support Service for Publication of Open Access Journals

Since 1997 LiU E-Press has published five electronic journals and provided a support service to the editorial team of one further journal that is published by Elsevier. Two examples are (Hygiea Internationalis (http://www.ep.liu.se/ej/hygiea/) and International Journal of Ageing and Later Life (IJAL - http://www.ep.liu.se/ej/ijal/index.html))). What became apparent early on was that the process of keeping track of papers, referees and the reviewing process took a substantial amount of time. In 2004, LiU E-Press developed an internet-based, editorial support service, Journal Article Review Support System (JARSS) to be used by editorial teams to assist in keeping track of submitted articles. The users for the system include authors, reviewers, and editors and each user has access only to that information and those tools which are relevant to them. For example, an editor sees when an article is submitted and can then draw from a list of reviewers to begin the refereeing process. The editorial window also allows an editor to see the status on reviews (whether they have come in, whether they are overdue, etc.) and on the paper (whether it has been revised etc.). Of particular note is the integration of email communication and the handling of attachments and other files (e.g. reviewers comments). JARSS has been tested extensively on Artificial Intelligence Journal (AIJ), published by Elsevier and LiU E-Press is now offering this Journal Publication Service to anyone wishing to publish an open access journal.

In some research areas, notably the humanities, there is a strong interest in niche journals publishing two or three issues a year in a highly specialized area. Coupled with electronic publishing, novel concepts such as interactive articles, poster-journals, advanced media articles, etc., the arguments for a university research area to seriously consider operating an international journal and gaining the increased visibility that goes with it are strong and in fact we are seeing significant interest.

Our experiences with JARSS will be discussed, including a demonstration.