Lancaster University Library launches open access journal hosting service

Lancaster University Library has launched a service to host open access journals managed by Lancaster University’s academic community.

Lancaster University Open Journals is a free platform that supports a variety of publication types including peer-reviewed journals, conference proceedings, and other publications.

The library says it developed the service to make it possible and easy for colleagues who wish to develop scholar-led open access journals to host their publications and manage their journal workflows on the platform for free. The service removes the need for colleagues to pay annual subscription fees (usually between £1200 to £1500) for hosting services and ensures their long-term preservation without the need to continuously find sources of funding.

The service uses Open Journal Systems (OJS) software, an open-source platform developed by the Public Knowledge Project. OJS is the world’s most widely used end-to-end scholarly publishing platform. The platform allows journal editors to manage the entire publishing workflow from submission to online publication on a single platform. Articles and issues published on the platform can be indexed in global discovery services such as Google Scholar, Crossref, and DOAJ.

All Lancaster University staff can submit a proposal to host a journal on the platform. Journals using the service must be approved by the library and adhere to open access principles and policies, including copyright retention for authors, Creative Commons licensing, and procedures for handling third-party material and takedown requests.

The library’s Open Research team will support academics in setting up their journals on the platform and provide guidance on planning and managing a journal, such as minting DOIs.

Find out more about the Lancaster University Open Journals Platform here.