5.1 Publishing systems and their features

5.1.1 Suggested training topics

1. Introduction to common publishing systems

2. Advanced use of publishing systems:

   1. Introduction to the advanced use of publishing systems

   2. Update and security features of publishing systems

   3. Automating migration to a dedicated publishing system

3. XML publishing workflows

5.1.2 Notes on the training topics

The report on technical challenges and gaps in journal operations (Laakso et al. 2024) specifically states that the use of the open publishing systems could alleviate the difficulties journals experience adhering to common publishing standards:

Many standards would almost automatically be fulfilled if the journal would reside on a modern publishing content management system rather than something self-built or a generic website framework not tailored to publishing specifically. (p. 108)

The course block offers a foundational and advanced level upskilling on commonly used publishing systems (e.g. OJS, Lodel, Janeway). The background of the foundational course is the overall functionality of the system from the perspective of the editors and reviewers with the focus on the editorial workflow. As a part of the advanced course the update procedure and the security features will be covered, as necessitated by the recently conducted survey on OJS technical requirements (see above).

The presence of the third topic - “XML publishing workflows” - is conditioned by the fact that some publishing systems offer not only a submission workflow and a publishing service, but also authoring-editing, layout, typesetting and . These features are commonly based on XML datasets, which are converted into different output formats such as HTML, PDF and ePub. This training topic covers XML publishing workflows either on a selected publishing platforms (e.g. TEI Publisher) or platform-independent, using XML editing software such as Oxygen XML. An introduction to XSLT and CSS may constitute part of the training, as the transformation scenarios mostly include XSL templates. The level of detail with which the different technologies are covered may vary to serve the needs of the target audience. For instance, a “train the trainer” format would require a different approach than a training of editors.

5.1.3 Modules build-up: Publishing Systems and their Features

Topic	Level	Audience	F-A-I-R
Introduction to publishing systems	Foundational	Editors Reviewers Researchers	F-A-I-R
Introduction to the advanced use of publishing systems	Advanced	Editors Reviewers Researchers	F-A-I-R
Update and security features of publishing systems	Advanced	Software developers Technical professionals	F-A-I-R
Automating migration to a dedicated publishing system	Advanced	Software developers Technical professionals	F-A-I-R
XML publishing workflows	Advanced	Software developers Technical professionals	F-A-I-R

Table 2: Modules for the training block “Publishing systems and their features”

5.1.4 Training materials

1. Existing training materials.

Title	Creators	Comment
Finding the Right Platform: A Crosswalk of Academy-Owned and Open-Source Digital Publishing Platforms (https://doi.org/10.17613/z27e-0z11)	Cheryl E. Ball, Corinne Guimont , Matt Vaughn	Published in 2023 this document gives an overview of selected publishing softwares and their features, including the topics “Hosting & Cost, Ingestion Options, Editorial Workflows, Interactivity, Archive & Preservation, Export Options, Discoverability, Accessibility”.
Plan S compliance in OJS: Open webinar recording (https://docs.pkp.sfu.ca/plan-s/en/)	PKP	The webinar from November 2022 outlines the steps that journals can take to comply with Plan S requirements in OJS. In addition to the video, there are helpful notes on the website.
Guidelines for XML publishing in Hrč (https://wiki.srce.hr/display/HRCAK/Guidelines+for+preparing+a+DOCX+document )	University of Zagreb University Computing Centre (SRCE) as part of CRAFT-OA	The documentation gives a step-by-step explanation of how to publish XML files in the Portal of Croatian scientific and professional journals (Hrčak). It also forms the basis for workshops that members of SRCE give as part of CRAFT-OA.
Automation of processes for publishing journal issues in OJS (https://github.com/CHC-Computations/CRAFT-OA-training-materials/tree/main/OJS_automation)	The Institute of Literary Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IBL PAN) as part of CRAFT-OA	This Jupyter notebook contains a Python script to enable the automatic transfer of texts and their metadata to OJS instances. It is used for training delivered during the CRAFT-OA project and may be a valuable resource for advanced users of OJS.
OA Journals Toolkit: Software and Technical Infrastructure (https://www.oajournals-toolkit.org/infrastructure/software-and-technical-infrastructure)	DOAJ, OASPA	The article from the OA Journals Toolkit discusses publishing software and possible integrations.
OA Journals Toolkit: Structured Content (https://www.oajournals-toolkit.org/infrastructure/structured-content)	DOAJ, OASPA	The article from the OA Journals Toolkit introduces the advantages and disadvantages of publishing content in a XML format.

Table 3: Existing materials for the training block “Publishing systems and their features”

1. Training materials planned to be produced by CRAFT-OA

Title	Planned in the context of	Institution
Intro to publishing platforms	WP3 / T3.3	TIB
XML Publishing	2024 summer school for journal editors	TIB / Operas
Advanced use of OJS	WP3 / T3.3	SRCE
Staging and container virtualisation, pro’s and con’s	WP3 / T3.3	UGOE
Typical journal platform migration processes	WP3 / T3.3	UGOE
OJS automation: automatic transfer of texts and their metadata to OJS instances	WP3 / T3.3	IBL PAN
SciFlow: HTML and PDF production	WP3 / T3.3	UGOE

Table 4: Potential materials for the training block “Publishing systems and their features”