by Kristin Ameis und Oliver Krüger
The OJS workshop organized by the OJS Network, which is part of the German Diamond Open Access Service Center (SeDOA), took place on September 17 and 18, 2026 at the Hamburg State and University Library. Over the course of two days, the workshop brought together all participants from the various German-speaking OJS communities in person and strengthened collaboration among them.
Open Journal Systems (OJS), the free and open-source publishing software developed by the Public Knowledge Project (PKP), is an important foundation for research-driven publishing services in Germany. Working with OJS involves much more than merely hosting technically: academic editorial offices use OJS to organize peer review and publication processes, developers work on further developing OJS, and university presses and institutional publishing services (IPSPs) operate OJS and support publishers and editorial offices in publishing their journals. The OJS workshop addressed this intersection: It brought together the various stakeholders of the community and their respective experiences. The goal was to identify needs, address common issues, and provide new impetus for the German-speaking OJS community.
In recent years, a multifaceted network has developed around OJS, enabling the OJS Network to support existing networks in their work. This has led to collaboration with existing communities and the network’s community-oriented approach. This approach was first presented at the virtual launch of the OJS Network in April 2026, and was realized at the recent in-person OJS workshop in September. The communities were involved in planning the workshop, and the OJS Network, as the event organizer, asked them to help design individual sessions. This put the OJS Network’s approach of being a network by the community, for the community into practice.
A Closer Look at the Sessions at the OJS Workshop
The 35 participants at the OJS workshop came from all of the targeted communities. In various sessions, the participants addressed a range of challenges related to working with OJS. The focus was on collaboration and knowledge sharing, with the goal to better align the future development of OJS and its associated services and networking activities with the community’s needs.
In a session on revising OJS-de.net, participants discussed the site’s content focus. The aim for OJS-de.net is to continue to serve as a central knowledge platform for the German-speaking OJS community. In addition, active work was carried out on the planned relaunch of the website. Furthermore, the session organized by the editorial network OJSRed focused on editorial networking related to OJS. Among other topics, the discussion centered on how editorial teams can better engage with one another and how existing networking structures can be further developed.
Other sessions focused on substantive work related to specific topics. For example, during a session participants explored Diamond Open Access and discussed specific ways to implement it sustainably and ensure quality using OJS. To this end, the requirements for publishing Diamond Open Access journals were developed and discussed with the participants. The open questions and lively discussions made it clear that this topic in particular still requires further exploration and debate within the community. The OJS Hosting working group of the AG Universitätsverlage (German Association of University Presses) examined the various services offered by IPSPs and university presses as part of their hosting services. The discussion focused on categorizing the journal services provided by university presses and IPSPs within the context of standardization, resource allocation, and individualized support. The experiences of existing university presses and IPSPs have shown that strategic considerations regarding the desired service level are essential even at the stage of establishing new services.
The workshop “OJS in Transition: Developments and Needs” focused on current and future developments in OJS, particularly OJS 3.6 and the planned integration of an editor. The participants discussed which features have proven useful in their daily work, where challenges and unnecessary workloads exist, and what improvements they would like to see. In particular, the future integration of an editor for creating HTML and PDF files will be a key focus for the community. There will be opportunities for discussion on this topic within the OJS community.
Transition: Developments and Needs” (Source: Oliver Krüger, 2026)
On the one hand, the individual workshops provided inspiration for future work. On the other hand, the time set aside for in-person discussion was well spent addressing specific topics and issues. The participants particularly highlighted this aspect as positive. The OJS workshop demonstrated the importance of in-person meetings with active discussion are for the community and its work.
The Further Development of the OJS Network
The OJS Network was launched with the goal of being a network by the community for the community, and corresponding offerings for the community were developed. Bringing all participants together in person provided an opportunity to reflect on and evaluate the network’s activities to date. On the other hand, by organizing its own session, the OJS Network created an opportunity to collaborate with OJS stakeholders and communities, identifying needs and developing ideas for the network’s future work.
During this session on the OJS network, workshop participants explored four different areas of focus: exchange and networking, topics and content, formats and offerings, and community and co-participation. As part of a World Café, the four topics were discussed and addressed at themed tables. The community’s needs were diverse and ranged from better networking among users, technical service providers, and developers to a central repository of information and best practices, to collaborative solutions for current challenges, such as artificial intelligence in publication processes, further developments of OJS, and media-neutral production workflows. Regarding possible formats, suggestions included, among other things, time-limited meetings on a specific topic or the presentation of best-practice examples that the OJS community can use as a guide.
Overall, it became clear that the OJS network’s primary function is to serve as a hub for gathering information. At the same time, it became evident that clear goals, thorough documentation, and the distribution of task allocation are crucial for the OJS Network’s long-term collaborative development.
Outlook
The results of the 2026 OJS Workshop form an important foundation for the OJS Network’s future work. Over the next months, the main focus will be on improving the accessibility of existing knowledge and networking opportunities for the OJS communities, and addressing their expressed needs. The workshop demonstrated that continuous exchange is essential for this, both through regular digital interactions and in-person meetings. The OJS Network intends to continue fostering this exchange in the future by leveraging synergies between the communities and sustainably sharing experiences, ideas, and resources. The further development of the OJS Network therefore remains a shared responsibility, supported by the diverse perspectives, collective knowledge, and commitment of the entire community.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.
Link to the OJS-Network: https://diamond-open-access.de/en/services/community-support/ojs-netzwerk/