Some Customization Questions...

[codonnell]

I had a couple of questions regarding customization I'm looking to do on OJS to roll it out for our journals work flow.

1.) Default section selection for submissions. We are primarily using "sections" for special issues of the journal. This is a rare occurrence and we'd like to have the section selection default to our main section. How hard/easy do you think this would be?

2.) Changing a heading like "Supporting Agencies" to "Acknowledgments and Disclaimers"?

3.) Where do the "comments for the editor" go? I can't seem to find them after a submission is made. I'd also like to re-name this to "Cover Letter." Again, can I just change something in a template for this or is it a deeper change?

4.) The "Status" of a submission in the editor view or author view isn't very clear when it has been given a revise and resubmit. The editor view indicates that a decision has been rendered, but it continues to be "under review." Shouldn't it go into another category? In the author view it's status is "queued for review," which it wouldn't really be any more. It would need their attention, right? Is there a good place to start this kind of customization?

5.) An indicator of some kind for reviewer steps? What step are they currently on? What should they be paying attention to? Most of our first time reviewers find it confusing what they should do next. Is this something a template would indicate, or do you think it would require deeper attention?

6.) Decision granularity. I've found:
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1802&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=decision+granularity
We're looking to have a bit more granularity in our possible decisions. I think I have a good idea of what this will take.

Sorry for so many different questions in one place. Thanks and best.

Casey

[jmacgreg]

Hi Casey,

I'll answer what I can here:

1.) Default section selection for submissions. We are primarily using "sections" for special issues of the journal. This is a rare occurrence and we'd like to have the section selection default to our main section. How hard/easy do you think this would be?

You can order your journal sections by visiting the Journal Manager -> Journal Sections page and using the up and down arrows. To change the behaviour of the section selection drop-down in Author Submission step 1, you'd have to edit the submission template. This can be found in templates/author/submit/step1.tpl.

2.) Changing a heading like "Supporting Agencies" to "Acknowledgments and Disclaimers"?

Text changes can be accomplished by editing the relevant locale file. The majority of the text you'll see is stored in locale/en_US/locale.xml. Simply open the file and do a search for "Supporting Agencies" and change it to what you want. More info on finding and editing locale files can be found here: http://pkp.sfu.ca/files/docs/translating/index.html. If you are using more than one language, don't forget to change for that additional language as well, if necessary.

3.) Where do the "comments for the editor" go? I can't seem to find them after a submission is made. I'd also like to re-name this to "Cover Letter." Again, can I just change something in a template for this or is it a deeper change?

Again, to change this text, find it in the relevant locale file. If you are not seeing comments to the editor, you may be running into the following bug: http://pkp.sfu.ca/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=3205 Let me know which version of OJS you are using, and I can look into it further.

4.) The "Status" of a submission in the editor view or author view isn't very clear when it has been given a revise and resubmit. The editor view indicates that a decision has been rendered, but it continues to be "under review." Shouldn't it go into another category? In the author view it's status is "queued for review," which it wouldn't really be any more. It would need their attention, right? Is there a good place to start this kind of customization?

The "Resubmit for Review" decision will still list the submission as under review, as it still is; this will initiate a second round of peer review. It's a little different than "Revisions Required", although in both cases the submission will still technically be under review. Only an "Accept Submission" decision will move the submission into editing.

5.) An indicator of some kind for reviewer steps? What step are they currently on? What should they be paying attention to? Most of our first time reviewers find it confusing what they should do next. Is this something a template would indicate, or do you think it would require deeper attention?

This is an area that will receive a fair bit of attention in the near future: we will be working on making the workflow clearer and easier for authors, editors et al. to understand. At the moment, it's easy to see whether a submission is unassigned, in review, in editing, or published/declined, but we do agree that there's no easy way to see when an action needs to be committed. If you have any personal recommendations you'd like to pass on, we would very much appreciate it.

6.) Decision granularity. I've found:
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1802&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=decision+granularity
We're looking to have a bit more granularity in our possible decisions. I think I have a good idea of what this will take.

If you do make any modifications, we'd love to take a look at what you've done. The best place to keep us posted would be in the OJS Development subforum -- questions about the code etc. are welcome there as well.

One final note: if you do make any template or locale etc. changes, don't forget to document them and account for them if/when you upgrade.

Thanks for the questions, and let us know if you have any more!

James

[codonnell]

First off... Thank you James for taking the time to go through all of my questions and answer them so carefully and well.

Text changes can be accomplished by editing the relevant locale file. The majority of the text you'll see is stored in locale/en_US/locale.xml. Simply open the file and do a search for "Supporting Agencies" and change it to what you want.

Ah, excellent. As I was poking around, I did notice that it wouldn't be that difficult to have a bit more depth here to OJS more generally. Right now there is the "sponsor" setting_name that corresponds with "Supporting Agencies" and that makes sense. I would love to see an "acknowledgments" or something setting_name. That would allow us to distinguish between acknowledgments and supporting agencies. Especially in the humanities/social-sciences you'll have more to say than would fit.

Even the NSF requires something like:

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. #######. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recomendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation (NSF).

In their essays, but that would be identifying information, so should be kept out, for something like the acknowledgments section. Just a thought. I'm trouble.

Again, to change this text, find it in the relevant locale file. If you are not seeing comments to the editor, you may be running into the following bug: http://pkp.sfu.ca/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=3205 Let me know which version of OJS you are using, and I can look into it further.

I think I am running into this bug. At least as far as I can tell, editors or section editors can't see this info anywhere in the system, just in the database in article_comments. I'm currently running 2.2.0.0 (May 22, 2008 - 04:35 AM). Can you let me know if this is what I am encountering or where these comments would typically be found by a (section) editor?

I'm planning to make the text field for this bigger too, and call it a "cover letter." Something I can do easily based on your earlier feedback.

The "Resubmit for Review" decision will still list the submission as under review, as it still is; this will initiate a second round of peer review. It's a little different than "Revisions Required", although in both cases the submission will still technically be under review. Only an "Accept Submission" decision will move the submission into editing.

I definitely see what you're saying here, but at least for authors it would be really great if their status said something else. Like "revisions needed" or something that would indicate that they've got something to do. If it's too difficult, I understand. Not a show stopper. If others would like it, I can go after it.

A related question. When someone uploads a revised essay, are they asked to submit "Comments" again? I guess this would be done via email to the editor when a new "Upload Author Version" is submitted. Right?

This is an area that will receive a fair bit of attention in the near future: we will be working on making the workflow clearer and easier for authors, editors et al. to understand.

Super. This is the main piece of feedback I've gotten from my editors. One simple thought I had (was focused on reviewers first) would be to bold their current step. So if they need to respond, that would be highlighted. On down the line. It's a little funny for "or" steps. Like if a reviewer doesn't paste in anything, but uploads a file with a review. Something like that. I actually think the essay submission process makes more sense, kind of linear. The review process (for reviewers) is on one page, so they're not sure what is next.

If you do make any modifications, we'd love to take a look at what you've done. The best place to keep us posted would be in the OJS Development subforum -- questions about the code etc. are welcome there as well.

Ok. I think I'll actually make this a near term priority, since it might actually be useful.

Thanks again for the detailed assistance.

Best.
Casey

[solty]

Hi,
As you know, we have "Supporting Agencies" entry area during the submission.
I want to see this entry below the article's abstract for readers.
I was not see any settings for this. Is there any way see below of the abstract?

[asmecher]

Hi Solty,

That would require a template modification, specifically placing {$article->getLocalizedSponsor()|escape} where you want it to appear in templates/article/article.tpl.

Regards,
Alec Smecher
Public Knowledge Project Team

[solty]

Thanks Alec from Türkiye.
I was apply >> uploaded>> I see.
But additionally, I need title as "Supporting Agencies"
Sincerely,