In this segment of Archipelago, explore the recap of events since September 2025.

Events in Latin America

In September and October 2025, PKP participated in two events in Ecuador. First, PKP’s Publication Support Specialist Pedro López Casique participated in a hands-on workshop on the role of metadata in scholarly publishing. Together with Crossref, Pedro explored how standardized metadata improves discovery and visibility. The session covered OJS plugins for DOI, ORCID, ROR, funding, and citation data. He also shared updates from OJS 3.5 and provided editorial support for journals and presses.

Later, PKP’s Communications Coordinator, Alejandra Casas Niño de Rivera, presented at the 3° Encuentro RERCIEE, talking about the latest improvements in OJS, OMP, and OPS 3.5, what’s coming for 3.6.x, updates on the ORE project, and how all these new features and enhancements can be implemented in journals to improve their daily processes and practices.

DataCite webinar- Configuring and Optimizing DOIs with DataCite in Open Journal Systems

October 1st

PKP’s Open Scholarly Infrastructure Advisor, Mike Nason, presented the webinar “Configuring and Optimizing DOIs with DataCite in Open Journal Systems”, hosted and organized by DataCite. The webinar covered how to optimize metadata for discoverability and make the most of using the DOI plugin and DataCite DOIs in OJS.

Canadian Conference on Open Science and Open Scholarship

October 9-10, Montreal, Canada

The talk delivered by Coalition Publica Senior Coordinator Jeanette Hatherill was a call to reclaim ownership of scholarly publishing from commercial interests and to harness public and open infrastructures. Painting a portrait of the Canadian journal landscape, Hatherill advocated for diamond open access as the most equitable path forward and highlighted Coalition Publica’s work in that regard. With mechanisms like Érudit’s Partnership for Open Access, which provides financial support to over 200 diamond open access journals, and national policy shifts, this model is a realistic option for Canadian scholarly journals.

At the same event, PKP’s Community Education Manager, Kate Shuttleworth, presented on the crisis in scholarly publishing and the promise of diamond open access. The talk highlighted how OJS enables a global, scholar-led alternative to commercial models. Using data from OJS journals, we showed why researchers’ publishing choices matter. Kate also shared a PKP one-pager at the SFU Core Facilities Showcase.

Shaping the Future of Open Publishing – Introduction to New PKP + SFU Courses

October 30th

On October 30th, PKP and SFU held a 90-minute webinar about the collection of three online courses developed in collaboration with the Master of Publishing (MPub) program at Simon Fraser University (SFU) as part of SFU’s new scholarly communications stream  – designed to help students and practitioners navigate this rapidly changing landscape with confidence. During this session, all three course instructors offered a behind-the-scenes look at what students will learn in each course.

The post Featured Events Recap appeared first on Public Knowledge Project.

Canada is positioned as a leader in diamond open access with a strong foundation, investment in open infrastructure, unique funding models, wide-spread adoption of Open Journal Systems (OJS), and a focus on what really matters to Canadian scholarly knowledge creators, mobilizers, and publishers.

Canada has a longstanding, internationally recognized leadership role in scholarly communications. One vital part of this history is the country’s contribution to the diamond open access movement, built on the work of grassroots scholarly communities rather than commercial enterprises. 

Across the country, journals have been founded, edited, and sustained by faculty, students, librarians, developers, information workers, and scholarly societies working within universities and research centres. This community-driven model has thrived precisely because it is rooted in institutions whose mission is to advance and share knowledge, allowing publishing to remain aligned with scholarly values rather than shaped by profit-driven motives.

At the national level, this distributed labour is supported by organizations whose mandates advance the public good. Érudit and the Public Knowledge Project (PKP), both housed in Canadian universities, anchor the country’s non-commercial publishing infrastructure. Together, through Coalition Publica, PKP’s open-source publishing software and Érudit’s centralized dissemination platform create an integrated, scholar-focused ecosystem. 

This partnership, funded by the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) and the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), as well as backing from the Canadian Research Knowledge Network (CRKN), allows us to treat publishing tools not simply as technical utilities (although the technical, free and open source foundations are critical), but as essential components of Canada’s scholarly communications infrastructure, purpose-built to serve research communities (for more on this evolving relationship, see our interview with Tanja Niemann and Kevin Stranack).

A Strong Foundation: Research, Library Publishing, National Infrastructures, and Communities of Practice

These strong national foundations are evident in the influential work of early open access champions such as Leslie Chan, Jean-Claude Guédon, and Stevan Harnad, as well as in the outstanding scholarly communications research emerging from labs led by Juan Pablo Alperin, Stefanie Haustein, and Vincent Larivière. 

Canada’s commitment to scholarly communications research is similarly reflected in the dedicated Research and Innovation Team of Canada’s dissemination platform, Érudit, whose mandate foregrounds sustained inquiry into questions pertinent to our field. It is further reflected in the research leadership of Canada’s academic library community, who have illuminated the distinctive characteristics of Canadian journals, and in the ongoing support provided through Coalition Publica’s scholarship program.

Canada’s academic libraries have also long championed journal publishing within their academic communities, giving rise to a decentralized, distributed, community-oriented ecosystem. More than half (54%) of all active Canadian journals are managed within universities, and a large proportion of these are hosted directly by libraries, particularly in high-publishing provinces such as Alberta and British Columbia (van Bellen & Céspedes, 2025, p. 103).

Central to this ecosystem are two national infrastructures: Érudit and the Public Knowledge Project (PKP). Their partnership in Coalition Publica, initiated in 2017, has helped to transform their technical services into a national infrastructure and an essential component of Canada’s scholarly communications ecosystem. Together, they sustain digital publishing, shape national OA policy, and sustain Canada’s distributed, scholar-led journal environment, through education, advocacy, and coordination.

In addition to national infrastructure, Canada benefits from strong communities of practice that help sustain its scholar-led publishing ecosystem. One prominent example is the widely used Scholarly Communications in Canada Mattermost workspace (a free and open-source alternative to Slack), proudly hosted by PKP as part of Coalition Publica. 

The workspace was founded by three leaders in the library publishing community: Sonya Betz, Head of Open Publishing and Digitization Services at the University of Alberta, Leah Vanderjagt, Head of Digital Repositories at the University of Alberta, and Jeanette Hatherill, Senior Coordinator for Coalition Publica. 

This vibrant channel functions as a grassroots, peer-support network where practitioners share successes, troubleshoot challenges, exchange expertise, and collectively strengthen the country’s community-owned scholarly communication infrastructure.

Several other national organizations have also played key roles in nourishing this publishing landscape. The Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) supports and strengthens Canada’s scholarly communications community of practice, notably through committees such as the Library Publishing Community Engagement Team. These foster collaboration, professional development, and shared leadership across the country’s library-led publishing initiatives.

Similarly, the Canadian Association of Learned Journals (CALJ), established in 1990, is a not-for-profit, member-driven organization dedicated to strengthening Canada’s journal community. It advances this mandate through sustained advocacy efforts, “To represent, develop and support the academic community of Canadian learned journals in disseminating original research and scholarly information, and to promote intellectual culture in Canada and internationally.” (CALJ About page). 

Canada’s publishing landscape is also reflected in a diversity of student-led journals. The 10th iteration of the Canada Student Journal Forum (SJF) took place in 2025, bringing together post secondary students from across Canada who are actively engaged in journal publishing. Founded by the University of Toronto Libraries, and now national in scope, the SJF has long benefited from the support of PKP staff, who have chaired and served on its organizing committee. Through PKP’s collaboration with Coalition Publica, the organization has also been a proud sponsor of the SJF.

Engaging junior scholars in the full publishing lifecycle is a critical investment in the future of scholarly communication, one that Canada’s vibrant community of practice and Coalition Publica actively sustains. Through initiatives like the SJF, and Coalition Publica’s student editor grants, emerging researchers gain hands-on experience, develop editorial and technical skills, and deepen their understanding of open, community-led publishing models.

Together these pieces form a uniquely Canadian scholarly publishing landscape, one that is decentralized yet deeply interconnected, grassroots yet institutionally supported, and sustained not by commercial interests but by the collective stewardship of libraries, research centres, and national infrastructures.

PKP’s Roots and Canada’s Investment in Public Infrastructure

PKP is an organization serving the globe, but its foundations remain unmistakably Canadian. Across the country, universities and research libraries not only adopt OJS at scale, they also lead its governance, contribute to its development, and provide essential financial support. 

Organizations such as Canadian Research Knowledge Network (CRKN) and Ontario Council of University Libraries (OCUL), the University of Alberta, and the University of British Columbia have long invested, both in-kind and financially, in community-owned infrastructure that reflects scholarly rather than commercial priorities. For years, PKP was housed within the library at Simon Fraser University (SFU), and in 2022 found a new home within SFU’s Core Facilities Program.

Open Journal Systems (OJS) Enables Diamond Open Access

Canada is the birthplace of the Public Knowledge Project (PKP) and remains a thoroughly committed adopter of Open Journal Systems (OJS) with 415 journals using the platform, as captured by Beacon Data. The Beacon is an integrated function (which users can opt-out of) that offers a snapshot of OJS usage by journals in Canada and across the globe. Canada exemplifies the global pattern in which OJS is overwhelmingly the platform of choice for journals publishing under the diamond open access model: free to publish and free to read.

Érudit research advisors Simon van Bellen and Lucía Céspedes further document the contours of this ecosystem in their article, “Diamond Open Access and Open Infrastructure Have Shaped the Canadian Scholarly Journal Landscape Since the Start of the Digital Era.” They report that 61% (571) of Canada’s 943 active journals follow the diamond OA model (van Bellen & Céspedes, 2025, p. 102). For journals founded since 2015, diamond adoption rises to an even more striking 84% (p. 102). In contrast, older society-run titles are more likely to continue operating under subscription models (p. 102).

Van Bellen and Céspedes identify three defining traits of the Canadian journal landscape:

1. The exceptionally high prevalence of diamond open access,
2. The predominance of social sciences and humanities (SSH) disciplines, and
3. The relative absence of commercial publishers (p. 104).

They also underscore that Canada’s strong library publishing sector is critically enabled by OJS, which allows universities and research centres to retain control over scholarly communication infrastructure rather than outsourcing it to commercial entities (p. 103). At the same time, they find that a notable consequence of this university-based, library-hosted model is the growing dominance of English as the primary language of journal submissions within Canada’s scholarly publishing (p. 102), despite a robust bilingual research environment.

OJS Adoption in Canada

The story of OJS begins in the Canadian west, in British Columbia, where PKP was established in 1998 by John Willinsky with support from the UBC Pacific Press Partnership, and extends all the way to Newfoundland in the east. Canadian journals’ adoption of the OJS platform began after the platform was first presented to the academic community on May 18, 2002 at Memorial University in St. John’s, Newfoundland. 

Not long afterward Simon Fraser University Library and the University of Alberta library started hosting journals on OJS, as they grew into long-term institutional supporters of open scholarly infrastructure. Among the early Canadian adopters of OJS is Postcolonial Text, founded by Ranjini Mendis in 2004 at what is now Kwantlen Polytechnic University, which went on to later be published in Paris. Another early adopter was the well-established Canadian Journal of Communication, in 2003, although it has since migrated off the platform and is now published by the University of Toronto Press. It was not unusual for journals to employ OJS in making the transition from print to online before moving on to other platforms and publishers. Today, OJS is in use in every Canadian province as well as in the Yukon Territory.

Decades of Public Investment and Unique Funding Models

Canada’s leadership in open access is also the result of sustained public investment and experimentation with non-commercial, resdistributive funding models. The federally administered Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) has provided funding to scholarly journals since 1979, and beginning in 2028, this support will only be available to journals publishing under the diamond OA model. 

Québec’s provincial research funding agency, Fonds de recherche du Québec (FRQ), has supported journal publishing since at least 1981. In 2021, the FRQ took a significant step by joining cOAlition S and adopting the principles of Plan S, including a requirement for full and immediate open access to the research it funds. The FRQ is going even further in demonstrating  its commitment to diamond open access by mandating that, by 2028, all research it funds be published under this model. 

In 2024, with financial support from the FRQ, the Université de Montréal, and Université Laval, Réseau Circé was established to “mobilizes the community of French-language scholarly publishing, in order to provide concerted support to Quebec scientific journals in the transition to an immediate open access model, which does not impose fees for publication or reading: the diamond model (Mission Page).”

Another important source of support for non-commercial journals in Canada is the Partnership for Open Access, a pillar of Coalition Publica. Established in 2015 between Érudit and the Canadian Research Knowledge Network (CRKN), this partnership redistributes collective funding from libraries internationally to independent journals hosted on the Érudit platform, further reinforcing Canada’s community-owned, scholar-led publishing ecosystem (van Bellen & Céspedes, p. 97).

In December 2023, Canada’s Tri-Agency Research Councils, national funders of research comprising of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), initiated a review of their open access policy (van Bellen & Céspedes, p. 107; also access the Tri-Agency Policy Summary). 

While the policy review is currently on pause, Canada’s thriving diamond open access ecosystem, built on universities, research centres, and scholar-led infrastructure, welcomes this renewed focus. Stakeholders see it as an opportunity to reinforce and align national policy with the country’s well-established, community-driven approach to scholarly publishing, that keeps public money within the public, scholarly ecosystem (for example, see Coalition Publica’s response and recommendations).

Bibliodiversity

Van Bellen and Céspedes highlight how Canada represents a “highly diversified landscape across […] provinces, OA types, supporting organizations and languages. These journals support bibliodiversity in terms of their age, the diversity of the authors who publish in them, the research subjects they present, their publishing organizations and the languages used” (p. 104). 

Canada can be seen as a microcosm of bibliodiversity buttressed by an independent, non-commercial research ecosystem that allows scholars to publish work of national and regional significance, including subjects that might otherwise be overlooked by commercial publishers. This breadth and depth of scholarly expression is a defining feature of what OJS enables for the scholarly community in Canada and globally.

To conclude, the 2022 study by Khanna, Ball, Alperin, and Willinsky explores the (modest but meaningful) decolonial praxis enabled by OJS worldwide. They document how open, community-run infrastructure expands global participation in scholarly knowledge production and publishing, including diversity of language and content. This heterogeneity is emblematic of some of the best things about Canada: far from perfect or fully resolved, yet pluriversal, resourceful, and committed to experimenting with models that serve a wide and varied community.

Works Cited

Van Bellen, S., & Céspedes, L. (2025). Diamond open access and open infrastructures have shaped the Canadian scholarly journal landscape since the start of the digital era. The Canadian Journal of Information and Library Science, 48(1): 96-111. https://doi.org/10.5206/cjils-rcsib.v48i1.22207

Khanna, S., Ball, J., Alperin, J. P., & Willinsky, J. (2022). Recalibrating the scope of scholarly publishing: A modest step in a vast decolonization process. Quantitative Science Studies, 3(4): 912-930. https://doi.org/10.1162/qss_a_00228 

Jump to other sections of the newsletter:

Sustaining open infrastructure together: A warm thanks to TIB

Advancing open publishing: Feature highlights from three years of CRAFT-OA

Inside 3.5 with UX / UI Designer Devika Goel: Part 2

PKP update on its open infrastructure accessibility work

Inclusive global publishing: PKP Documentation and Multilingualism Specialist Emma Uhl

Coalition Publica’s Tanja Niemann and Kevin Stranack on Canada’s diamond open access future

The post Regional Feature: Canada’s Leadership in Diamond Open Access appeared first on Public Knowledge Project.

For over 8 years, the Coalition Publica partnership between Érudit and the Public Knowledge Project (PKP) has been a force in consolidating support for Canada’s open access scholarly publishing communities. 

We sat down with Tanja Niemann, Executive Director of Érudit, and Kevin Stranack, Director of Operations for PKP, to trace the origins and opportune coming together of two vital Canadian infrastructures, while also looking ahead to the future. Through their collaboration, Coalition Publica has helped establish Diamond Open Access leadership in Canada and shaped the global conversation on open, sustainable, scholar-led publishing communities.

“To be part of Coalition Publica is to be part of a group that works to convene communities around a vision for a future that is equitable, open, and collaborative. By coming together to build Diamond Open Access in Canada, we contribute to an international movement to reclaim research as a public good.”– Jeanette Hatherill, Senior Coordinator, Coalition Publica 

Let’s start at the beginning. When was Coalition Publica born, and what brought it to life? Who was involved in those early days?

Coalition Publica was launched in 2018 as a collaborative initiative between Érudit and PKP, two university-based Canadian organizations deeply committed to open access and digital scholarly publishing. The partnership aimed to create a robust, non-commercial infrastructure to support journals in the humanities and social sciences, particularly those transitioning to sustainable open access models.

Érudit, the consortium formed by Université de Montréal, Université Laval, and Université du Québec à Montréal, had long been a leader in disseminating francophone research, while PKP, founded at the University of British Columbia and later housed at Simon Fraser University, developed the widely used Open Journal Systems (OJS). By combining Érudit’s dissemination platform with PKP’s editorial tools, Coalition Publica offered a comprehensive solution for scholarly publishing.

The initiative received early support from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), as well as backing from the Canadian Research Knowledge Network (CRKN). From its inception, Coalition Publica has emphasized community-driven values, working closely with libraries, researchers, and journal editors to strengthen Canada’s scholarly ecosystem.

Coalition Publica exists at the nexus of so many publishing communities across Canada. Can you tell us a bit about these independent and interdependent publishing communities?

Coalition Publica serves as a central hub for a diverse array of decentralized scholarly and cultural publishing communities across Canada, particularly those focused on the humanities and social sciences. These communities include university and society-based journals, library publishing programs, and culturally specific initiatives such as francophone publications. Most operate independently, driven by local academic priorities and community values, yet they share a commitment to open access and scholarly integrity.

Despite their independence, these groups are deeply interdependent. Coalition Publica provides shared infrastructure combining Érudit’s dissemination platform with PKP’s OJS that enables journals to publish, manage, and distribute research efficiently. Along with libraries and journals, we collaborate on publishing services, funding models, metadata standards, and digital preservation, with Coalition Publica often acting as a facilitator and advocate for sustainable, non-commercial publishing.

This interconnected ecosystem fosters collaboration across linguistic, disciplinary, and institutional boundaries. Coalition Publica helps unify these efforts, supporting 147 journals that use its combined infrastructure as of 2025 (119 of which are Diamond OA), soon to reach 161 in 2026 (131 of which will be Diamond OA). We also support hundreds more by promoting equitable access to research beyond the combined infrastructure. By bridging independent initiatives with national coordination, it strengthens Canada’s scholarly publishing landscape and amplifies the voices of its research communities.

Canada is often described as a leader in Diamond Open Access publishing. What defines the Canadian approach, and what challenges remain?

Canada has emerged as a global leader in Diamond Open Access, a model where scholarly publishing is free for both authors and readers and is non-commercial and scholar-led in nature. This success stems from a robust ecosystem of university and society-based journals, library publishing programs, and platforms like Érudit and the Public Knowledge Project (PKP), which provide open-source tools and infrastructure for more than a quarter of a century.

The Canadian approach is also notable for its bilingual inclusivity, supporting both English and French publications, as well as other languages, and for its emphasis on equity and accessibility. Many journals are hosted by academic institutions and run by scholars, students, or learned societies, reflecting a decentralized but collaborative publishing culture. Government agencies like SSHRC, CFI, and Fonds de Recherche du Québec have provided key funding, reinforcing the public-good orientation of Canadian publishing.

This funding is further strengthened by the CRKN–Érudit Partnership for Open Access, a national agreement that enables libraries to financially support Diamond Open Access journals on the Érudit platform as well as those hoping to transition to this model. Through this partnership, journals receive operational funding and, thanks to Coalition Publica’s infrastructure support, these journals can operate at lower costs without charging fees to authors or readers.

Our approach is also unique in the development of the Érudit research corpus, which provides centralized access to over 250,000 scholarly articles in the Coalition Publica collection, many of them in French, and serves as a vital resource for researchers, libraries, and the public. This corpus not only amplifies Canadian scholarship but also ensures long-term preservation and discoverability of open access content.

Despite this vital financial support and strong infrastructure, however, challenges remain. Funding is uneven across provinces and institutions, and many journals rely on volunteer labour or precarious support. While Coalition Publica has improved coordination, there’s still a need for national policy frameworks and long-term financial models to ensure sustainability.

The Canada Foundation for Innovation recognizes Coalition Publica as a Major Science Initiative, one of only 19 research facilities of national importance in the country. What does that recognition mean for Coalition Publica?

Being named a Major Science Initiative by the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) affirms Coalition Publica’s national importance and secures long-term funding to support its infrastructure, operations, and impact on Canadian research.

This designation places Coalition Publica among an elite group of research facilities recognized for their critical role in advancing Canada’s scientific and scholarly landscape. It means that Coalition Publica is not just a publishing platform; it is a national research infrastructure essential to the production, dissemination, and preservation of Canadian scholarship, especially in the humanities and social sciences.

With this recognition, Coalition Publica received a $10 million grant from CFI’s Major Science Initiatives Fund for 2023-2029, which supports the ongoing operation and maintenance of facilities that enable world-class research. This funding, coupled with a $9 million grant from SSHRC over the same period, allows Coalition Publica to strengthen its digital services, expand its support for open access journals, and enhance its bilingual publishing infrastructure. It also helps ensure that Canadian researchers have equitable access to sustainable, non-commercial publishing tools.

Importantly, this recognition validates the work of the hundreds of journals, libraries, and scholars that Coalition Publica supports. It elevates the visibility of Canadian humanities and social sciences research internationally and reinforces Canada’s leadership in Diamond Open Access publishing.

Why does bibliodiversity, or the diversity of published content and perspectives, hold particular importance in Canada?

Bibliodiversity is vital in Canada because it reflects the country’s linguistic, cultural, and regional diversity, ensuring that scholarly publishing represents a wide range of voices, disciplines, and communities.

Canada’s scholarly landscape is uniquely multilingual and multicultural, with strong traditions in both English and French publishing, as well as growing support for Indigenous and community-based scholarship. Bibliodiversity helps ensure that research reflects this richness. It allows scholars to publish in their own languages, address local and regional issues, and engage with audiences beyond dominant global publishing norms.

This diversity is especially important in the humanities and social sciences, where context, language, and cultural specificity matter deeply. Canadian journals often focus on regional studies, Indigenous knowledge, and bilingual scholarship, which is extremely relevant to Canadian society but might be overlooked in commercial publishing systems. Supporting bibliodiversity means valuing smaller and independent journals, many of which operate within universities or libraries and rely on open access models.

Canada has a strong history of supporting public infrastructures. What will it take to sustain scholarly publishing infrastructure? 

Canada’s scholarly publishing infrastructure thrives on public investment and community collaboration, but sustaining it for the long-term will require deeper coordination and stable funding. Platforms like Coalition Publica have enabled hundreds of journals to operate under Diamond Open Access models. These systems reflect Canada’s broader commitment to public infrastructure and equitable access to knowledge.

To maintain this momentum, Canada needs multi-year operational funding that goes beyond project-based grants. Recognizing initiatives like Coalition Publica as Major Science Initiatives is a step in the right direction, but broader national policies and a national Open Science roadmap are needed to align the efforts of policy makers, funders, libraries, and academic institutions. This includes shared standards for metadata, preservation, and reporting, as well as support for multilingual and community-led publishing.

Libraries play a crucial role in hosting and supporting journals, and investing in their publishing programs and recognizing their contributions as part of national infrastructure will be key. Ultimately, sustaining scholarly publishing in Canada means treating it as a public good — valuing quality, diversity, accessibility, integrity, and long-term resilience as markers of impact as opposed to over commercial impact metrics such as quantity of outputs and “prestige value”.

How has Coalition Publica’s mission evolved since the early days, and where do you see it heading in the coming years?

Coalition Publica’s mission has grown significantly since its founding in 2018. Initially focused on building a shared infrastructure for open access journal publishing in the humanities and social sciences. This technical foundation laid the groundwork for a broader vision: to foster a sustainable, community-led scholarly publishing ecosystem.

Over time, Coalition Publica has evolved into a national coordinator and advocate for Diamond Open Access, bibliodiversity, and multilingual publishing. It now supports 147 journals (soon to reach 161 in 2026), provides training and technical assistance, and conducts research into publishing practices. Its recognition as a Major Science Initiative by the Canada Foundation for Innovation underscores its importance as a public infrastructure.

Looking ahead, Coalition Publica is poised to grow its services, deepen partnerships with libraries and funders, expand into other formats, such as books, and into other disciplines, including the natural and health sciences, and influence national policy on scholarly communication. Its future lies in strengthening Canada’s leadership in equitable, open publishing while ensuring long-term sustainability for the journals and communities it serves.

The post Leveraging Expertise and Building Capacity: An Interview with Coalition Publica’s Tanja Niemann and Kevin Stranack on Canada’s Diamond Open Access Future appeared first on Public Knowledge Project.

How does documentation and multilingualism intersect with inclusive global publishing? Get an inside perspective in this interview with Emma Uhl, PKP Documentation and Multilingualism Specialist.

In a global scholarly environment still searching for grounded, practical approaches to decolonizing knowledge, the Public Knowledge Project offers a meaningful contribution, due in no small part to our sustained investment in multilingualism, led with care and expertise by Emma Uhl.

In their 2022 article, Khanna, Ball, Alperin, and Willinsky highlighted the modest but significant forms of decolonial praxis made possible through the worldwide adoption of OJS. Their work demonstrates how open, community-run infrastructure broadens global participation in scholarly publishing and strengthens linguistic diversity within the research ecosystem.

Below, Emma Uhl outlines her experience, role, and PKP’s approach to supporting multilingual publishing and strengthening equitable participation across global research communities.

The Journey of Inclusive Open Publishing Documentation and Multilingualism in Emma’s Own Words

Can you share a little about your background and what led you to join the Public Knowledge Project?

Absolutely! My work background before PKP was the mess you expect from someone in their 20s, but I worked a lot of Japanese-to-English translation contracts to support myself throughout school. I was 27 by the time I finished my undergraduate degree as a first-generation student.

When it was time to graduate, one of my professors asked me if I’d ever considered becoming a graduate student. Although I think he wanted me to take up Japanese linguistics — sorry, Ono-sensei — he kindly helped me apply for the Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) program after I decided I should choose a path with more stable employment prospects (a decision likely influenced by the fact that I was raised by a university library employee who greatly resented the barriers on her career caused by a lack of access to post-secondary education).

Once I was an MLIS student, I was employed under Sonya Betz, the head of Library Publishing at the University of Alberta at the time. I was trained to use OJS to manage published journals and asked to represent the U of A at PKP’s Documentation Interest Group. The rest is history! I was recruited for a student position at PKP and eventually hired after my graduation during the pandemic.

As a Documentation and Multilingualism Specialist, your work likely spans a lot of different areas. Can you give us a snapshot of what projects you work on?

I manage the Documentation Interest Group (DIG) sprints, where PKP staff and community volunteers collaborate to improve our documentation. Because this is PKP’s longest-running collaborative group, I also help shape our strategy around interest groups and community outreach.

Since documentation is central to PKP’s educational resources, I often work across teams to “translate” information from developers or specialists into resources that make sense for everyday users. Educational strategy is a hot topic among many of us at PKP. For example, right now I’m helping out our Community Education Manager, Kate Shuttleworth, with the ALMASI project.

On the multilingualism side, I guide volunteer translators through our translation process. I help contributors navigate the tools, make regional language choices, and ensure contributions are made in the right places.

I also manage the platforms that support our documentation and translation work. For example, I’m currently working with a developer to move our documentation hub to a new platform with features we’ve been missing since the first launch. A big part of this role is lowering barriers for people with the skills to contribute but who aren’t familiar with software or GitHub.

Because of my background with the PKP Publishing Services branch, I also join their meetings to stay informed about client experiences and identify opportunities for collaboration with the Community team. Sometimes I still provide some good old-fashioned tech support, too.

Sometimes I describe myself as a “float”, as in someone who moves between stations depending on what’s needed in retail. My role naturally connects me with colleagues across PKP, and I like to dive into big cross-team projects and debate what could make our ever-growing team work even better. Maybe because I’m a bit of a dilettante at heart.

PKP has a global reach, and multilingualism is a key part of your role. How does language play into the accessibility and impact of the tools and resources you help PKP provide?

One of PKP’s major goals is to break down barriers both in terms of access and production of research, and this includes language barriers. Much has been written by wiser people than myself about English as the de facto language of research and tech.

Although we’re a very English-speaker-heavy organization, PKP does not want to fall into the trap of believing that English is “good enough for everyone”, especially when we want to encourage the types of regional innovation and network-building we see at home in Canada and from our friends abroad.

We want regions to take our software, learn it, and understand it through our resources. Then, they can mold it through the process of translation and documentation, code contribution, and user feedback. Consequently, PKP’s tools become part of their local publishing ecosystems rather than something imposed from outside.

To me, that’s the real impact of multilingualism. It makes open research infrastructure truly global, not just global in reach but in ownership.

Community plays a huge role in PKP’s work. How does community collaboration shape your approach to documentation and translation?

I came to PKP through a community/staff interest group as a mentee to a library publisher, so in a way, community collaboration is all I’ve ever known. There’s no point in writing documentation or offering translated software if it doesn’t address the needs of the community.

And the usefulness of the most carefully crafted software with infinite language offerings and supplementary documentation would still hinge on whether or not its user community is capable of achieving their goals.

PKP and its software are complicated things! But being in this role has really taught me the importance of being able to explain the complicated things that make us who we are at different levels of detail depending on what is most useful for the situation. My contact with so many distinct needs, desires, and issues across the world informs everything I do in the project.

What part of your work at PKP motivates you the most, and why is it so important to you?

Positive user feedback. It’s really that simple. When someone says Oh, I’ve been hoping PKP would have this type of educational resource, or that the documentation would better cover a certain feature, or that a commonly requested quality-of-life change would come to the software.

When we can give improvements to a user with all the information they need to leverage the hard work that went into them, and everything feels frictionless, it’s very gratifying and feels like a community-driven project at its best.

For our readers who are interested in documentation and multilingualism efforts at PKP, are there any upcoming projects you’re working on that they should keep tabs on?

Yes! The aforementioned change of platform for our documentation hub is going to be a huge one, and I’m super excited. We’ll finally have searchable documentation, and updates will be automatically reflected. We’re also hoping to capitalize on some other usability features as we build it out. Combined with the revamped Learning OJS 3.5, documentation will be in better shape than ever.

Are there any fun multilingualism stories or experiences that you’ve had at PKP that you’d like to share?

It’s just a small full-circle coincidence, but it’s fun for me. Years ago, I received a scholarship from a Japanese government organization to study in Japan, and recently I found myself using that same background to provide a bit of Japanese language support in a meeting with members of that very same organization. It was one of those “the world is really small” moments.

Outside of that, I’m sometimes reminded that multilingualism isn’t just about different languages… I have a lot of rural Saskatchewan sayings I got from my mother that regularly confuse my colleagues and myself.

Thank you, Emma, for sharing your story about how you came to PKP, the unique skills and experience you bring, and the considerations you make as you work on PKP documentation and multilingualism. Your leadership in developing open documentation to folks using PKP software, and in translation efforts, is paramount to empowering scholars worldwide in using OJS, OMP, and OPS independently for non-commercial, non-profit, discoverable, open access scholarly publishing.

• Check out the Documentation Interest Group (DIG)
• Check out the Multilingualism Interest Group (MIG)
• Check out the PKP Docs Hub
• Contribute to PKP translation efforts
• Checking out Learning OJS 3.5
  • About OJS
  • For Site Admins
  • For Journal Managers
  • Editorial Workflow
  • For Reviewers
  • For Authors

Jump to other sections of the newsletter

Sustaining open infrastructure together: A warm thanks to TIB

Advancing open publishing: Feature highlights from three years of CRAFT-OA

Inside 3.5 with UX / UI Designer Devika Goel: Part 2

PKP update on its open infrastructure accessibility work

Regional feature: Canada’s leadership in diamond open access

Coalition Publica’s Tanja Niemann and Kevin Stranack on Canada’s diamond open access future

The post Inclusive global publishing: A conversation with PKP Documentation and Multilingualism Specialist Emma Uhl appeared first on Public Knowledge Project.

Recent accessibility efforts in scholarly publishing are driven in part by acts such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and new Title II regulations requiring digital accessibility, with key compliance deadlines approaching in 2026. PKP shares the work it is doing to ensure accessibility in its publishing platforms.

Accessibility Audit and Voluntary Product Accessibility Template

Under the leadership of Israel Cefrin, Digital Accessibility and Systems Specialist, PKP is commissioning a comprehensive accessibility audit of its software. The audit will provide clear recommendations for remediating accessibility barriers experienced by our users.

Following the implementation of these recommendations, we will produce a Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) to support communities and institutions in evaluating the accessibility of our platforms in accordance with their local legislation, policies, and procurement requirements.

This work builds on the detailed workflow mapping completed by Beau Grier, PKP Quality Assurance Analyst, which has provided essential context and clarity for the development of the Statement of Work (SOW) led by PKP’s OMP Coordinator, Zoe Wake Hyde. Their combined efforts ensure that the audit is well scoped and able to meet its intended purpose.

Testing Focus

Because PKP’s three platforms share a substantial proportion of interface components, testing will focus on Open Monograph Press (OMP). Both the reader-facing and administrative interfaces will be evaluated, with the latter involving more complex interactions and workflows.

As the OJS reader interface has already undergone previous assessment, only the OMP pages that differ from OJS will require additional testing during this audit.

PKP’s open infrastructure development has always been community-driven and focused on diverse user needs. Like in the past, we’re including the people we serve in our testing, as Israel emphasizes:

I truly believe that accessibility must be shaped by those it’s meant to serve. By testing with people with disabilities, we’re ensuring our application reflects real-world needs — not assumptions.

— Israel Cefrin, PKP Digital Accessibility and Systems Specialist

Support from the Open Book Collective (OBC)

This project is receiving immediate attention and is a major priority for PKP. Dedicated funding from the Open Book Collective has enabled us to move forward, and the upcoming implementation of ADA Title II in Spring 2026 heightens the urgency of this work.

At the same time, OMP continues to see growing adoption for monograph publishing, and we know that many communities rely on us to ensure our software meets contemporary accessibility standards and best practices.

Jump to other sections of the newsletter

Sustaining open infrastructure together: A warm thanks to TIB

Advancing open publishing: Feature highlights from three years of CRAFT-OA

Inside 3.5 with UX / UI Designer Devika Goel: Part 2

Inclusive global publishing: PKP Documentation and Multilingualism Specialist Emma Uhl

Regional feature: Canada’s leadership in diamond open access

Coalition Publica’s Tanja Niemann and Kevin Stranack on Canada’s diamond open access future

The post PKP Update on its Open Infrastructure Accessibility Work appeared first on Public Knowledge Project.

Strengthening multilingual publishing, metadata integrity, and integrating invitation-based roles and reviewers.

December 2025 marks the conclusion of the three-year CRAFT-OA development project, aimed at building core features and improvements for PKP’s software platforms, namely Open Journal Systems (OJS), Open Monograph Press (OMP), and Open Preprint Systems (OPS).

These features and enhancements strengthen Diamond Open Access systems, ensuring global visibility, discoverability, and recognition of valuable research, regardless of origin.

These updates fall into three categories:

1. Allowing editors to work with user and reviewer data in a GDPR-compliant manner
2. Improving access to multilingual content and metadata
3. Increasing metadata quality and availability

“The close collaboration between the TIB technical team, PKP development team, and the broader PKP community proved critical in balancing regulatory requirements, technical feasibility, and user-centered design goals.”

— Dulip Withanage, Open Access Platform Manager (TIB)

GDPR-compliant Invitations for Users and Reviewers

Developed by Technische Informationsbibliothek (TIB) in partnership with PKP

Inviting new users, inviting existing users to adopt a new role, and inviting users to participate in a submission’s review process will all be integrated and be General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliant with the upcoming release of OJS, OMP, and OPS 3.6 in the Fall of 2026.

In fact, the recent 3.5 release already includes functionality allowing new user and role invitations to be sent through the software and created by the invitation recipient, taking user account creation out of the hands of the journal manager.

Updating the PKP software platforms to this invitation-based role creation meets the GDPR standards, provides academic publishers with enhanced security, and improves the user experience for authors, reviewers, and editors.

For more information, see:

• PKP Turin 2024 Sprint: GDPR
• GitHub:
  • Invite a user to adopt a new role #9960
  • Invite a reviewer to review a submission #11836
  • Invite a user or reviewer via ORCID #9661

“The CRAFT-OA work made OJS more responsive to the realities of multilingual publishing — especially for smaller languages. The next step is to carry that inclusiveness into the broader open-access infrastructure, so that diversity isn’t lost once content leaves the journal platform.”

– Antti-Jussi Nygård, The Federation of Finnish Learned Societies

Multilingualism Enhancements

Developed by The Federation of Finnish Learned Societies (TSV) in partnership with PKP

Language-specific URLs for Improved Discoverability

Prior to 3.5, the selection of the current language presented when reading a journal, monograph, or preprint was stored via cookies and was hidden from web crawlers and search engines. Unique URLs per language allow for a wider distribution of content to systems consuming data, and improve content accessibility.

Unique URLs for languages allow screen readers to make explicit language declarations and help ensure correct pronunciation. They also allow users who use assistive technologies to reliably navigate to their desired language with minimal interaction.

Search engines will be able to index language-specific content separately. The downstream impact includes the ability for repositories, aggregators, and indexers to directly harvest language-specific content and increase precision for shared content, citation references, etc.

For more information, see:

• CRAFT-OA Brings Multilingual Improvements to OJS 3.5
  • Enhancing discoverability through language-aware URLs
• GitHub
  • Language-specific URLS for improved discoverability #699

“Making sure these external infrastructures can recognize, display, and exchange multilingual metadata is key to ensuring that smaller languages remain visible and valued in global scholarly communication.”

– Antti-Jussi Nygård, The Federation of Finnish Learned Societies

Decoupling the Metadata Language from the Journal Interface

Starting with version 3.5, metadata language options are independent of the journal’s interface language. For example, an author submitting to an English-language journal can select from over 700 languages for their metadata. This is especially valuable for smaller journals publishing multilingual content.

Conversely, the journal interface can be localized (navigation, buttons, content) without impacting the scholarly content in its original language.

This also allows the metadata of past submissions to be updated, even if the journal’s website language is removed.

For more information, see:

• CRAFT-OA Brings Multilingual Improvements to OJS 3.5
  • Flexible language settings for article metadata
• GitHub:
  • Make submission language and metadata forms separate from website language settings #9425

Viewing and Editing the Submission Language

Prior to 3.5, editors were unable to edit or view a publication’s language selection and submission locale. If the wrong submission language were selected, resulting in, for example, system notifications in a non-submission language and an incorrect editor assignment, it would not be possible for an editor to correct it.

CR

Beginning with the 3.5 release, the submission language is prominently displayed and is editable by editors, resulting in a consistent workflow, communication, and improved support for multilingual journals.

For more information, see:

• Display and allow changes to submission language #5502

“CRAFT-OA demonstrates (in practice) that international collaboration for the collective construction of infrastructure is not only possible but beneficial for all parties, and I hope that this experience will serve as an example for new projects so that, from the local level, we can build global infrastructure together.”

— Marc Bria, PKP Technical Committee & Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Improving Metadata Quality and Availability

Keyword and Subject Vocabularies

Developed by The Federation of Finnish Learned Societies (TSV) in partnership with PKP

The ability to define keywords according to a fixed vocabulary has been added to the 3.5 release, in addition to the free-form text values in earlier releases. This possibility offers several benefits, including standardization of vocabularies and the ability to store identifiers and sources.

The body of work published by the OJS, OMP, and OPS user community is too diverse in field, language, and approach for a single vocabulary to be feasible. To support this diversity, custom vocabularies can be defined using plugins. Two such plugins are already available: the Frascati subject classification, and the YSO ontology.

For more information, see:

• CRAFT-OA Brings Multilingual Improvements to OJS 3.5
  • Smarter metadata with controlled vocabularies
• GitHub:
  • Allow a journal to define a limited set of allowed keywords and reviewer interests #1550

Contributor Recognition via CRediT

Developed by The Federation of Finnish Learned Societies (TSV) in partnership with PKP

The upcoming 3.6 release will introduce the CRediT contributor role and degree of contribution as core functionality. For example, a role such as Writing – Review & Editing has the option to be associated with degrees of contribution. For example, lead, equal, or supporting.

Whereas currently OJS handles all contributors as individuals, this update allows the system to recognize three contributor types: individuals, groups, and anonymous, resulting in increased accuracy of representation and well-formed and compliant metadata.

For more information, see:

• GitHub
  • Contributor metadata enhancements #11378
  • CRediT & contributor types & roles in PKP applications (slides)

Data Citations

Developed by The Federation of Finnish Learned Societies (TSV) in partnership with PKP

The addition of data citations to the 3.6 release includes a data availability statement open-text field and the ability to reference authors and associated datasets.

The data availability statement field allows authors the option to describe their compliance with the journal’s data policies, and if included, it will be published as part of the article.

In addition to promoting research transparency, the inclusion of data citations makes the reuse of data possible and ensures recognition of authors and contributors.

For more information, see:

• GitHub
  • Enabling data citations #6278
  • Allow a Contributor to be an organization or anonymous #5955

Automatic Metadata Validation via Crossref

Developed by Technische Informationsbibliothek (TIB) in partnership with PKP

Improvements to the Crossref plugin for the OJS 3.6 include error handling to highlight incomplete or invalid data, and preventing such data from being sent to Crossref.

Another update to the plugin includes the validation of a publication’s metadata against Crossref’s requirements.

These automatic checks help to improve metadata completeness and quality, and open up the possibility for future enhancements such as detecting missing ORCID IDs, content quality checks such as consistent capitalization and punctuation, as well as extensions to support plugins, including DOAJ and Google Scholar.

In summary, thanks to this CRAFT-OA development initiative over the last three years, the 3.5 and 3.6 releases of OJS, OMP, and OPS include increased support and flexibility for less-resourced languages, improved metadata quality, integrity, and interoperability, platform usability, and data protection standards.

Furthermore, this initiative is a working example of how attending to the needs of one region or demographic has the potential to benefit the global community of users and developers. By continuing to maintain and build upon these features, the wider PKP community has the ability to extend the multilingual support and metadata interoperability to the wider ecosystem.

You can access more CRAFT-OA deliverables here.

Jump to other sections of the newsletter

Sustaining open infrastructure together: A warm thanks to TIB

Inside 3.5 with UX / UI Designer Devika Goel: Part 2

PKP update on its open infrastructure accessibility work

Inclusive global publishing: PKP Documentation and Multilingualism Specialist Emma Uhl

Regional feature: Canada’s leadership in diamond open access

Coalition Publica’s Tanja Niemann and Kevin Stranack on Canada’s diamond open access future

The post Advancing Open Publishing: Feature Highlights From Three Years with CRAFT-OA appeared first on Public Knowledge Project.

On October 15th, 2025, Technische Informationsbibliothek (TIB, the German National Library of Science and Technology) announced the PKP Open Journal Systems (OJS) Deutschland Consortium 2026 – 2028 on the TIB Blog. Diesen Beitrag auf Deutsch lesen.

At PKP, part of our mission has always been to support sustainable, community-driven open scholarly infrastructure. That’s why we’re delighted by the announcement from TIB launching the PKP Open Journal Systems Deutschland 2026 – 2028 Consortium — a new initiative inviting German academic institutions to join forces in support of PKP infrastructure.

Why this new consortium matters

• The consortium is designed to “enable easier memberships for Germany’s academic institutions,” simplifying participation in support of our software ecosystem.
• Given the widespread adoption of OJS, particularly among diamond open access journals and German-language independent publishers, this consortium helps secure and strengthen that infrastructure.
• By building a community-based support network, we’re promote sustainability, resilience, and shared ownership of open-source publishing tools — aligning with both PKP and TIB’s commitment to open knowledge and scholarship.

A moment to say thank you

We wish to express our deep gratitude to Marco Tullney and TIB — long-standing friends, Strategic Development Partner, and champions of open access. Over the years, TIB’s contributions have made a tangible difference with operations and infrastructure support, software development and translations, sustainability, and bridging with the German OJS community.

With the launch of this new consortium, TIB is reaffirming its leadership and commitment to open infrastructure — and encouraging others to join in. This collective effort inspires us and strengthens the foundations on which open scholarly publishing can thrive globally.

What comes next

We look forward to welcoming new members to the consortium, especially academic institutions in Germany, and to watching how this initiative helps further secure and evolve OJS and related PKP infrastructure. We anticipate that, together, we will:

• Maintain and improve open-source publishing tools.
• Support a diverse range of journals, including independent, non-profit, multilingual and diamond OA publications.
• Foster solidarity and shared stewardship across institutions — because open access works best when it’s a community endeavour.

Once again: Thank you, TIB. We are proud to call you partners — and excited for what comes next.

If you are interested in joining the PKP Open Journal Systems Deutschland 2026 – 2028 Consortium, please check the announcement and details on the TIB Blog. Diesen Beitrag auf Deutsch lesen.

Jump to other sections of the newsletter

Advancing open publishing: Feature highlights from three years of CRAFT-OA

Inside 3.5 with UX / UI Designer Devika Goel: Part 2

PKP update on its open infrastructure accessibility work

Inclusive global publishing: PKP Documentation and Multilingualism Specialist Emma Uhl

Regional feature: Canada’s leadership in diamond open access

Coalition Publica’s Tanja Niemann and Kevin Stranack on Canada’s diamond open access future

The post Sustaining Open Infrastructure Together — A Warm thanks to TIB appeared first on Public Knowledge Project.

Go on a journey inside Open Journal Systems (OJS) 3.5 user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) developments with PKP’s Devika Goel – Part 2!

In “Inside OJS 3.5 with UX / UI Designer Devika Goel – Part 1”, I interviewed Devika about how communities got involved, how user feedback informed the changes, the diversity of testing, and what went through Devika’s mind as she worked on 3.5. 

Now, I invite you to Part 2, where we explored a number of questions and insights that will be fascinating for anyone using or considering OJS, or thinking about upgrading to 3.5. But what is so fascinating about Devika’s journey? 

This interview will also be interesting for folks who are curious what goes into, and lessons learned from, designing quality open-source scholarly publishing software driven by values, community, theory, and practice. 

What this experience taught me most is that user-friendly doesn’t mean “simple.” It means respected. It means users feel seen in the flow of the design — whether they’re navigating metadata fields or assigning a reviewer. And that’s where PKP’s mission comes through so clearly. We’re not just building tools — we’re supporting the equitable production and sharing of knowledge.

Iteration and Future Plans

What parts of the design are still evolving or might change based on future feedback?

Many parts of the design are still evolving — and I believe they always should. At PKP, we serve a dynamic and diverse global community, and that means our design needs to remain responsive to how those needs shift over time. 

Core areas like the submission dashboard, submission interface, and reviewer experience will continue to adapt as we learn more from the people who use them daily. For example, what works well for an editor today may need to look very different tomorrow as publishing models, peer review standards, and user expectations change.

From a UX perspective, being adaptable is a strength, not a sign of incompleteness. We’re not designing something to be finished — we’re building a living system that grows with the people who rely on it. Feedback isn’t the final step; it’s the fuel that helps us iterate with care and intention.

What grounds this approach is PKP’s core commitment to community-led development. Our design process will remain open and reflective — not just to fix what’s broken, but to continuously explore what could be better. Staying stagnant would be easy, but it wouldn’t serve the community. Evolving with them is not only good design practice — it’s how we honour their trust.

Are there features or improvements users have requested that are on the roadmap?

Yes — several user-requested features and improvements are either already on the roadmap or being actively explored. 

One of the most common asks is for more flexible workflows. Users want the freedom to move between submission, review, copyediting, and production stages in ways that reflect their editorial realities — not be locked into a rigid, linear sequence. 

We’re working toward adaptive workflows that still provide structure, but with the flexibility to support diverse publishing models and team setups.

Another major area is continuous publishing. Journals are increasingly moving away from issue-based models, and we’re actively exploring how to better support rolling publication workflows — both in terms of interface and backend logic.

Users have also asked for multilingual form fields, especially in submission and metadata screens. For journals working across languages, this isn’t just a preference — it’s essential for inclusion, visibility, and global participation.

We’re also focused on improving notifications — specifically how they’re surfaced, prioritized, and actioned. The goal is to reduce noise while increasing clarity, helping users distinguish what’s urgent, what’s informative, and what can wait. This ties directly into better workflow awareness and decision-making across roles.

Another frequent request has been for improved file history and activity logs. Users want clearer insight into what’s changed, who made updates, and when actions were taken — especially in collaborative editorial environments. A more transparent and human-readable log helps build trust, reduce back-and-forth, and streamline accountability.

Of course, these are just a few highlights. We continue to receive thoughtful requests from the community almost daily — from small usability fixes to more strategic feature proposals. 

While we can’t implement everything at once, we have an incredibly dedicated team and a community that doesn’t just use the platform — they help shape it.For us, the roadmap isn’t static. It’s a shared space where community needs, technical feasibility, and thoughtful design come together to build something that’s not only functional, but truly meaningful.

How can the user community continue to give feedback on UX / UI in future versions?

There are several ways the user community can continue giving feedback on UX / UI in future versions — and we truly hope they do. At PKP, we don’t just welcome feedback — we see it as a form of collaboration.

One of the best starting points is by joining the conversation in the Feature Requests channel on the PKP Community Forum. This isn’t just a space to drop ideas — it’s where community needs meet collective imagination. A single idea posted there can spark dialogue, gather support, and evolve into something that benefits thousands of journals around the world.

We also host user testing and feedback opportunities both before and after features are developed. These sessions are incredibly valuable — not just for identifying issues, but for uncovering unexpected insights that help us refine workflows, language, and structure. Participating in these sessions helps ensure the software isn’t just built for the community — it’s shaped with it.

We’re also excited to invite users to virtual co-creation workshops focused on UX and UI. These sessions are about more than critique — they’re about imagining what’s possible together. You don’t have to be a designer to have a design mindset. If you’ve experienced a friction point or dreamed of a better way — you’re already halfway there.

And honestly, if you have an idea, sketch, or even a spreadsheet of feedback — send it. Some of our most meaningful changes have come from people who didn’t wait for a formal feedback window. As a community-led project, the things that are helpful to you, made by you, often become what’s helpful to many.

In the spirit of open infrastructure, we believe feedback isn’t a transaction — it’s a relationship. And the best user experiences are the ones we build together, version by version.

Broader Reflections

What are the biggest challenges in designing user-friendly software in the academic publishing space?

Designing user-friendly software in the academic publishing space comes with a unique set of challenges — not because the users are difficult, but because the ecosystem itself is incredibly rich, layered, and evolving.

At PKP, we’re not designing for a single workflow or audience. We’re designing for a global community — across 248+ languages, countless disciplines, varying levels of technical access, and often underfunded institutions. 

What’s considered intuitive in one context might be confusing in another. So the challenge becomes: how do you create something coherent, flexible, and inclusive — without making it feel fragmented or over-engineered?

We also work within a community-governed model, which means that change can’t be dictated — it must be earned. That pushed me to think beyond usability. I had to understand the values, hesitations, and hopes behind how people work, and then communicate design intent in ways that build trust and alignment.

Add to that the realities of a legacy codebase and a small, mission-driven team, and it became clear that every change had to be thoughtful, high-leverage, and sustainable. There was no room for “nice-to-haves.” Every improvement needed to serve a real, shared need — and do so without creating debt.

But what this experience taught me most is that user-friendly doesn’t mean “simple.” It means respected. It means users feel seen in the flow of the design — whether they’re navigating metadata fields or assigning a reviewer. And that’s where PKP’s mission comes through so clearly. We’re not just building tools — we’re supporting the equitable production and sharing of knowledge.

To me, that’s the real challenge — and privilege — of designing in this space. It’s not about removing complexity. It’s about making space for people to do meaningful work, with less friction and more dignity.

What lessons have you learned from this UX / UI redesign that might apply to other open-source platforms?

This UX / UI redesign taught me lessons that go far beyond design tools — and I think many of them can be helpful for other open-source ecosystems, especially those still growing their teams.

This UX / UI redesign taught me lessons that go far beyond design tools — and I think many of them can be helpful for other open-source ecosystems, especially those still growing their teams.

1. Design is a mindset, not a job title.

At PKP, not every contributor was a designer — but many were designers in spirit. Editors who flagged confusing workflows, developers who built accessibility into every line of code, support staff who shared user pain points — that’s all design work. Open-source platforms thrive when teams think about design as a shared responsibility: anyone can advocate for clarity, consistency, and user wellbeing.

2. Build systems, not just features.

One of the biggest shifts for me was moving from designing screens to designing foundations — flows, components, documentation, and decisions that could grow with the platform. In open-source, turnover is real, and contributors change over time. Future-proofing your work isn’t about perfection — it’s about leaving trails others can follow and build on.

3. Feedback isn’t noise — it’s alignment.

In open ecosystems, feedback can feel overwhelming. But I learned to treat it as directional energy. When people take the time to share what’s broken, unclear, or missing — it’s a sign of care. It also surfaces patterns that can guide both short-term fixes and long-term strategy. Even without a formal UX team, any product group can listen with structure: tag feedback themes, prioritize repeat pain points, and close the loop with your users.

4. Co-creation reduces rework.

We invited users into early testing — sometimes with rough prototypes, sometimes just with sketches. This didn’t just validate ideas; it revealed blind spots early and made our roadmap stronger. You don’t need polished visuals to co-create — you need a culture of showing work early and inviting input. That mindset saves time, builds trust, and makes future adoption easier.

5. Design for the edges, not just the average.

Some of our most meaningful improvements came from people outside the “default user” — folks working in lower-bandwidth regions, using older devices, or navigating OJS in their third language. When we centered their experience, everyone benefited. If your team can learn to ask, “Who might this unintentionally exclude?”, you’re already designing better systems.

6. Trust is the real product.

Whether you’re shipping features, frameworks, or fixes — the real output of an open-source project is trust. Trust that the tool will work. That it will be improved. That feedback is heard. This redesign taught me that every small choice — like clearer navigation or a transparent changelog — is a chance to reinforce that trust.

In short:
You don’t need a dedicated design team to design well. You need curiosity, care, and a willingness to listen deeply and evolve together. That’s how we built something sustainable at PKP — and it’s what I’d hope other open-source projects carry forward too.

How do you balance the needs of users who are tech-savvy with those who are less experienced with digital tools?

Balancing the needs of both tech-savvy and less experienced users isn’t about creating two versions of the same platform — it’s about creating a shared path where people can move at different paces without feeling left behind or boxed in.

At PKP, I didn’t see users as “beginner” vs. “advanced.” I started seeing them in terms of where they are on the learning curve — and how we can design for movement, not just comfort. 

That shift changed everything. Instead of thinking about simplicity versus. depth, we focused on progressive empowerment: making sure users could start small, gain confidence quickly, and uncover more control as they grew.

For example, we tried to avoid hiding important functions behind jargon or icons that assumed prior knowledge. Instead, we leaned into transparent language and context-aware actions — so users knew what something did before clicking it. And for more advanced users, we made sure the system didn’t slow them down — adding subtle shortcuts and ways to act faster without sacrificing clarity for others.

Another thing I learned is how important it is to design for graceful failure. A big reason newer users struggle isn’t that the tool is too complex — it’s that the consequences of getting something “wrong” feel high-stakes. So we designed ways to let people explore safely — offering warnings, previews, undo options, and smarter defaults that reduce pressure without taking away control.

What helped most was staying close to both groups. Tech-savvy users showed us where speed and efficiency mattered most. Newer users showed us where assumptions were breaking down. And in between? We found shared patterns — like the need for reassurance, clarity, and flexibility — that shaped how we built flows and framed choices.

So in the end, the goal wasn’t to split the difference. It was to design for confidence, and let the system grow with the person using it. That’s how we honour PKP’s values — not just by being accessible, but by being encouraging.

Wrap-Up

Is there a particular part of the new design you’re most proud of?

The part of the redesign I’m most proud of is the submission dashboard — not just because of how it looks now, but because of what it represents.

The dashboard is the first thing many editors and journal managers see when they log in. And before the redesign, it often felt like a wall of tasks — cluttered, unclear, and unintentionally overwhelming. 

What I wanted to create instead was a space that felt anchoring and empowering — a place where users could immediately understand what’s happening, what’s waiting on them, and what they can move forward.

What made this work meaningful was how many different types of users it had to serve — some managing hundreds of submissions, others just a handful. The challenge was to design a system that could scale in complexity, but still feel intuitive at every level. 

That meant thinking not just about UI, but about information design, pacing, and cognitive flow. We reduced unnecessary noise, highlighted next steps, and made it easier to triage and plan so users didn’t have to work to see their work.

But more than that, I’m proud of the shift in feeling. After launching the new version, several users told us the dashboard now felt calmer. That really stuck with me. Because designing for usability is important — but designing for emotional clarity? That’s where we start to make real change.

The submission dashboard redesign reminded me that even small interactions — like a status tag or a timeline indicator — can carry weight. And when we design with intention, those little moments can give people more focus, more confidence, and more time to do what matters.That’s something I hope more teams — inside and outside open-source — carry forward: design isn’t just about getting users through a system. It’s about helping them feel more capable while they’re in it.

What do you hope users feel when they first interact with the updated interface?

What I hope users feel, first and foremost, is relief. A quiet sense of, “Okay, I can do this.”

That feeling matters — because so much of academic publishing is high-stakes, high-pressure, and time-constrained. And when the tools we give people add more confusion instead of clarity, it only makes that work harder. So when someone opens the new interface, I want them to feel a little lighter. Like the system is on their side.

I also hope they feel seen. That the language makes sense to them. That the steps are clear without being controlling. That their role — whether they’re an editor, an author, or a reviewer — has been considered with care. Because what we design isn’t neutral. It either includes people or leaves them out. My hope is that the design signals inclusion at every turn.

And beyond usability, I hope there’s a quiet sense of trust. That the interface helps people feel more in control — not just of the software, but of the publishing process itself. That it gives them enough structure to move forward, and enough flexibility to work the way they need to.

If I had to put it in one line:

I want users to feel like they can breathe a little deeper. That this space — this software — is built not just to function, but to support.

That feeling, to me, is the foundation of good design. And especially in open-source, where we ask users to contribute, adapt, and grow with us — I think how we make people feel is just as important as what we help them do.

_________________

Thank you once again, Devika, for sharing your story along the way! How a scholarly publishing platform is designed impacts (more than) final published outputs, a conversation that deserves much attention. 

The platform’s standards, workflow, usability, and interface (and how they are arrived at), are aspects that should be transparent and evolving, in-line with community needs and trust-building, as you’ve highlighted in this interview. 

Thank you for bringing this conversation to light.
___________________

If you’d like to learn more about these exciting changes, you can check out our What’s New in OJS 3.5 recording on YouTube (as well as an entire 3.5 playlist), and our What’s New in 3.5 documentation. You can also access Learning OJS 3.5 documentation at PKP Docs Hub.

Jump to other sections of the newsletter

Sustaining open infrastructure together: A warm thanks to TIB

Advancing open publishing: Feature highlights from three years of CRAFT-OA

PKP update on its open infrastructure accessibility work

Inclusive global publishing: PKP Documentation and Multilingualism Specialist Emma Uhl

Regional feature: Canada’s leadership in diamond open access

Coalition Publica’s Tanja Niemann and Kevin Stranack on Canada’s diamond open access future

The post Inside OJS 3.5 with UX / UI Designer Devika Goel: Part 2 appeared first on Public Knowledge Project.

PKP invites those interested in the developments that underpin its scholarly publishing software to join in on December 15th, 2025, for a Development News Update Webinar. This event is open to all our community members.

Our development updates will be of interest to Strategic Partners, Development Partners, Financial Contributors, and Community Contributors, as well as the wider community interested in, or using, PKP’s free and open source software (FOSS) for independent scholarly publishing.

Topics and Speakers

• Roadmap update (Alec Smecher)
• Open peer review (Erik Hanson)
• Flexible workflow using Task & Discussions (Vitaliy Bezsheiko)
• Changes to indexing, DOIs, and deposits (Bozana Bokan)
• Structured citations (Bozana Bokan)
• Blade templates & the future of theming (Jarda Kotěšovec)
• Production workflows & body text editing (Jarda Kotěšovec)

Details

Monday December 15th, 2025

8 AM PST / 9 AM MST / 10 AM CST / 11 AM EST

Free, online via Zoom

This webinar will be recorded and shared with the public. The hosts will disable microphones and video screens, and there will be opportunities for questions and comments. AI bots are not permitted and will be removed from the meeting.

Zoom’s privacy statement

Use of Eventbrite to register is voluntary. Eventbrite data is stored on U.S. servers. If you prefer not to use Eventbrite to register for this event, please register by emailing commpkp[at]sfu[dot]ca – subject line: December development webinar registration

Thank you for considering joining the webinar. If you prefer to send questions or comments to PKP after the event in an alternative format, please contact PKP or join the conversation on PKP’s Community Forum.

The post PKP Development News Update Webinar: December 15 2025 appeared first on Public Knowledge Project.

Are you a researcher, editor, journal manager, librarian, or scholarly communications professional looking to develop your skills? Are you interested in learning more about the values, influences, technologies, and standards shaping today’s scholarly publishing ecosystem?

Read on to explore how the new Public Knowledge Project (PKP) + Simon Fraser University (SFU) Open Publishing courses are built to take you to the next level in navigating today’s rapidly growing world of scholarly communications and publishing. Register before December 12 to secure your spot in the January courses!

Professional Development to Meet your Needs at your Pace

The Master of Publishing (MPub) Program at SFU, in collaboration with SFU Library, LifeLong Learning, and PKP have come together to bring you unparalleled education opportunities.

Not a credit student? Not a problem! These courses are not just for MPub students — they are for anyone involved in or interested in scholarly communications and publishing.

No matter where you are learning from around the world, you can complete the weekly course content remotely when it fits your schedule, while benefiting from a structured course term with assignment deadlines and instructor feedback. 

PUB 604 – Technology and Infrastructure: January 4 – April 26 2026 course details

PUB 611 – Making Knowledge Public: January 4 – April 26 2026 course details

PUB 603 – Journal Management and Editing: May 11 – August 23 2026 course details

Why should you register? 

These courses offer a unique combination of scholarly communications theory and practice that will help you take the next step in your career. When you enroll in one, two, or all three of these courses you are increasing your skills and expertise for a wide variety of jobs.

In these courses, you will be learning in a community with other professionals, led by instructors who are experts in the field. You will engage in dialogue on course topics, develop relevant, hands-on projects, and receive tailored feedback on your work.   

Upon successful completion of one or more courses, receive a certificate of completion issued by the Public Knowledge Project (available upon request).

These courses are non-profit, meaning the course fees only cover the cost of instruction, and many of the instructors’ resources will be released as Open Education Resources for the benefit of the scholarly publishing community.

Some discounts are available to reduce the cost of registration, especially for those without institutional support or from underrepresented regions. 

Email: commpkp[at]sfu[dot]ca with the nature of your need, including your role, institutional affiliation, and country of residence. Requests will be reviewed confidentially and fairly, with priority given to those who would otherwise be unable to participate.

Cutting Edge Education from Experts 

SFU is a leader in publishing education, innovation, social responsibility, and equity. These new courses are the only specialized Scholarly Communication stream in Canada.

PKP, an organization built by scholars for scholars, is an SFU Core Research Facility trusted by more than 55,000 journals world wide to help make knowledge open for the public good. Our software is used for open-access, non-commercial, independent publishing.

Together, we are partnering to offer unmatched courses to help you elevate your expertise and advance your career in purposeful, sustainable, and values-driven scholarly publishing.

What will you learn?

PUB 611 – Making Knowledge Public: January 4 to April 26 2026 with Juan Pablo Alperin

• Understand how research moves from universities into the public sphere and shapes society
• Evaluate the public value of scholarly knowledge and its role in informing policy, science, and culture
• Critically examine the structures, incentives, and prestige economies that shape universities and academic careers, including the outsized role of scholarly publishing
• Identify barriers to making knowledge public and propose strategies for more purposeful engagement
• Reflect on the role of education — including your own — in the functioning of academic institutions
• Assess opportunities for researchers, scholars, and universities to strengthen their public mission

REGISTRATION DEADLINE: December 12, 2025

PUB 604 – Technology and Infrastructure: January 4 to April 26 2026 with Alison Moore

• Explain the key technologies and infrastructures that support scholarly publishing and discovery
• Use content management systems to organize, publish, and maintain academic content
• Apply metadata standards to improve the discoverability and interoperability of scholarly works
• Implement digital preservation strategies to ensure long-term access to research outputs
• Evaluate the roles of libraries, repositories, and open access platforms in shaping the scholarly record
• Assess and apply open source tools and services for academic publishing

REGISTRATION DEADLINE: December 12, 2025

PUB 603 – Journal Management and Editing: May 11 to August 23 2026 with Jennifer Zerkee

• Define and carry out the core responsibilities of journal managers and editors
• Design and manage editorial workflows, from submission to final publication
• Implement and oversee peer review processes that ensure fairness, rigor, and quality
• Apply ethical standards in publishing, including copyright, authorship, and integrity considerations
• Curate and evaluate journal content to maintain high editorial quality and relevance
• Integrate open access principles and practices into journal management strategies

Meet the instructors and learn more about the courses!

The course instructors are experts in their fields. Between Juan Pablo Alperin, Alison Moore, and Jennifer Zerkee you will benefit from more than 45 years experience in scholarly publishing and communications that can provide you with a solid foundation in these topics.

Meet the instructors and get the webinar recording

Prepare Yourself for a Career in Scholarly Publishing

The open publishing community is committed to challenging corporate ownership of knowledge creation, production, and consumption. Professionals in this field need a combination of technical expertise, awareness of trends, and practical skills in scholarly publishing.

Do you have a vision for a world where knowledge is open for the benefit of all? Then this field needs you!

Mapping these Skills onto Career possibilities

Here’s just a taste of the careers that skills from these courses apply to:

Making Knowledge Public

Technology and Infrastructure

Journal Management and Editing

Stay informed and register!

Sign up to stay informed about program updates and be notified about future course offerings in the Open Publishing Series.

Register before December 12th to secure your spot in January classes!

• PUB 611: Making Knowledge Public 

• PUB 604: Technologies and Infrastructure for Academic Publishing 

• PUB 603: Journal Management and Editing 

This course starts in May but you can register now to secure a spot early.

Remember to contact commpkp[at]sfu[dot]ca to inquire about discounts.

The post Welcome to Your Future in Open Publishing with PKP + SFU Worldwide Courses appeared first on Public Knowledge Project.