- 1998 PKP was founded by John Willinsky in the Faculty of Education at UBC, with Pacific Press Professorship endowment, dedicated to improving the scholarly and public quality of research.
- 2000 Open Conference Systems was released as open source software.
- 2001 Open Journals Systems released as open source software.
- 2002 Open Harvester Systems released as open source software.
- 2002 OJS listed as “Landmark Event” on the Timeline of the Open Access Movement.
- 2005 Partnership with the Faculty of Education at UBC, the SFU Library, and the Canadian Centre for Studies in Publishing at SFU established.
- 2005 Open Journals Systems 2.0 released.
- 2006 PKP receives Mellon Award for Technology Collaboration, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
- 2007 Synergies funding ensures PKP development for four years.
- 2007 First international PKP conference in Vancouver.
- 2007 Open Conference Systems 2.0 released.
- 2008 PKP sets up a research home at Stanford University, as well as a general home at SFU.
- 2010 John Willinsky receives Frederick G. Kilgour Award, American Library Association.
- 2011 PKP launches sustainability initiative to ensure ongoing financial resources and community participation.
- 2012 PKP Development Partnerships established.
- 2013 Open Monograph Press 1.0 released.
- 2014 PKP identified as a High-Impact Open Access Organization for Infrastructure, Accelerating Science Awards Program (ASAP), Major sponsors – Google, PLOS, Wellcome Foundation.
- 2015 PKP launches MacArthur-funded Open Access Scholarly Publishing Cooperative Study.
- 2016 PKP PLN launched.
- 2016 PKP Index launched.
- 2016 OJS Version 3.0 launched.
You can find more information on the history of the Public Knowledge Project in “The Public Knowledge Project and Open Journal Systems: open source options for small publishers“, “Open Journal Systems: An Example of Open Source Software for Journal Management and Publishing”. and other publications listed in our bibliography.