In 2024, Open Journal Systems (OJS) reached a significant milestone when it was officially chosen by the European Commission as the technological foundation for the Open Research Europe (ORE) platform. This decision carries profound implications for the future of open scholarly publishing.
A Strategic Choice for Open Science
In December 2023, the European Commission launched a tender to select an open-source platform to build ORE. After a thorough evaluation, OJS emerged as the winner in September 2024, within a two-year contract valued at €890,000, assigning the Public Knowledge Project (PKP) the responsibility of implementing ORE entirely on OJS infrastructure.
This outcome reflects strong confidence in OJS, thanks to its independence, scalability, and widespread adoption in the open access community.
What’s New in OJS 3.6?
The European Commission’s support has accelerated OJS development, with the 3.6 release planned for 2026 (non-LTS). Among the most anticipated features:
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Preprints: Allowing journals to publish research before peer review.
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Continuous Publication: Articles can be published as soon as they are ready, without waiting for an issue release.
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Open Peer Review: Offering transparency in the review process while maintaining traditional peer review as an option.
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Advanced Production Tools: Automatic conversion of manuscripts into JATS XML, PDF, and HTML, citation extraction, and ORCID/OpenAlex integration.
Implications for Global Academic Publishing
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Strengthened global standing: By serving as the backbone of ORE, OJS solidifies its role as a cornerstone of scholarly communication.
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Independent open-source infrastructure: Ensuring sovereignty and flexibility for research institutions worldwide.
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Faster knowledge dissemination: Supporting early access through Preprints and Continuous Publication.
Conclusion
OJS 3.6 is not just a technical update, it represents a paradigm shift in digital scholarly publishing: more transparent, more agile, and more collaborative. For academic journals, especially in emerging regions, this is a unique opportunity to align with the latest global trends in open access publishing.
