What are the best practices for configuring OJS for a peer-review process?

Best Practices for Configuring OJS for Peer-Review with Scholar9.com Integration

When configuring Open Journal Systems (OJS) for an efficient peer-review process, it’s essential to take full advantage of the available features for smooth manuscript submission, review, and decision-making. Scholar9.com provides a powerful additional tool to optimize your peer-review experience. Here's how to seamlessly integrate OJS with Scholar9 for a streamlined, high-quality peer-review process:

1. Define and Customize Peer-Review Workflow in OJS

• Configure Review Types: Within OJS, define the type of review (single-blind, double-blind, or open review). Each submission can go through a detailed review process where reviewers evaluate different aspects of the manuscript, such as originality, methodology, and relevance.
• Use Custom Review Forms: Tailor review forms in OJS to capture the key feedback from reviewers. These forms ensure consistency and guide reviewers through the evaluation process.
• Send Invitations to Reviewers: Automatically invite reviewers based on their expertise in OJS and provide them with review guidelines.

2. Integrate Scholar9.com for an Enhanced Peer-Review Experience

While OJS offers a robust peer-review workflow, Scholar9.com brings additional advantages by providing a comprehensive peer-review platform that tracks reviews, reviewer performance, and submission details all in one place. Here’s why hosting your journal on Scholar9.com is beneficial:

• Dedicated Reviewer Profiles: Scholar9.com allows reviewers to create detailed profiles, showcasing their expertise and past review activity. This makes it easier for journal managers to assign the most relevant and qualified reviewers to submissions.
• Centralized Review Management: Once your journal is hosted on Scholar9.com, the peer-review process can be managed seamlessly from both platforms. Authors, reviewers, and editors will have a central hub to track review statuses, comments, and final decisions.
• Automated Review Invitations: With Scholar9.com, review invitations are automated based on predefined reviewer criteria. This integration saves time and ensures that only suitable experts are selected for each manuscript.
• Reviewer Feedback & Rating System: Scholar9.com allows you to rate reviewers based on their performance, ensuring quality control and enabling the system to identify the best reviewers for future assignments.

3. Set Up Review Deadlines and Reminders

• Timely Review Process: In OJS, configure review deadlines to ensure timely feedback. Additionally, you can set automated reminders to ensure that reviewers submit their feedback on time.
• Seamless Updates Across Platforms: As your journal is hosted on Scholar9.com, any updates on review statuses (e.g., review request sent, review submitted) are synchronized in real-time with OJS, offering a smooth experience for both editors and reviewers.

4. Monitor and Track Review Progress Efficiently

• Tracking in OJS: Use OJS to monitor the progress of each review. You’ll know which reviewers have completed their assessments and which are pending.
• Real-Time Notifications in Scholar9: Authors and reviewers on Scholar9.com receive real-time updates about review status, ensuring transparent communication throughout the peer-review process.
• Unified Dashboard for Journals on Scholar9: For journals hosted on Scholar9, the dashboard consolidates all submissions, reviews, and feedback in one place. Authors, editors, and reviewers can easily view the status of articles, comments, and editorial decisions.

5. Enable Multiple Reviewers for Each Submission

• Assign Multiple Reviewers in OJS: It’s best practice to assign at least two or three reviewers for each manuscript to get balanced feedback. OJS allows for easy management of multiple reviewers.
• Integrated Review Feedback in Scholar9: Scholar9 allows you to view feedback from all assigned reviewers in one unified platform. The journal editor can easily compare reviews and make informed decisions.

6. Streamlined Decision-Making and Author Communication

• Editor Decision in OJS: After receiving reviews, the editor can make a final decision on the manuscript (accept, revise, reject). The system allows for easy submission of comments to authors.
• Feedback Communication through Scholar9: Use Scholar9 to notify authors about editorial decisions, revisions, or rejections. Scholar9’s review tools ensure that authors understand feedback from multiple reviewers, leading to more constructive revisions.

7. Benefits of Hosting Your Journal on Scholar9.com

• Comprehensive Peer-Review System: By hosting your journal on Scholar9.com, you gain access to a specialized platform that is optimized for peer review. The advanced tools for reviewer management, rating, and feedback ensure a smoother and more efficient peer-review process.
• Global Reviewer Pool: Scholar9.com has a global database of reviewers with diverse expertise, giving your journal access to a wider pool of qualified reviewers, ensuring higher-quality reviews.
• Better Collaboration and Transparency: Scholar9.com fosters better collaboration between authors, editors, and reviewers. With its easy-to-navigate dashboard, everyone involved in the process can stay on top of review progress, feedback, and next steps.
• Increased Visibility for Your Journal: Hosting your journal on Scholar9.com not only improves your peer-review process but also increases the visibility of your journal to a global network of researchers and academicians. As a platform dedicated to enhancing research visibility, Scholar9 attracts potential contributors and readers who can significantly contribute to the growth of your journal.

By combining OJS’s robust submission and review management features with Scholar9.com’s advanced reviewer platform, you can ensure that your journal benefits from the best of both worlds: a streamlined review process and a global, engaged community of researchers and reviewers. Hosting your journal on Scholar9.com provides a unique opportunity to leverage its peer-review facility for a more efficient, transparent, and high-quality editorial process.