OJS Services for Academic Journals
Installation, journal website design, hosting, upgrades, technical support, SEO, indexing preparation and training, all focused on Open Journal Systems and delivered by people who understand academic publishing.
End-to-end OJS services in one place
OJS Academy provides OJS services for journals at every stage, from a brand-new journal that needs an OJS platform setup to an established publication that needs an upgrade, a better website or help with indexing. Open Journal Systems (OJS) is the free, open-source software from the Public Knowledge Project (PKP) that thousands of journals use to manage submissions, peer review and publishing. The software is powerful, but installing it correctly, making the journal website look credible and keeping it secure takes specialist knowledge.
Whether you need a single OJS journal website or a portal for several journals, we can handle the whole project or just the part you are stuck on. OJS websites we work on stay on standard OJS releases, so they remain easy to update and are never locked to us.
OJS Academy is led by an academic-publishing professional with 10+ years of experience in scholarly journals and has supported 80+ academic journals. We work only with OJS, and we combine the technical side (servers, upgrades, errors) with the publishing side (policies, metadata, peer review workflows and indexing criteria).
Not sure where to start?
Use the service finder below, or describe your journal on our contact page and we will suggest the right next step, even if it is something you can do yourself.
Our OJS services
Each service has its own page with details of what is included and how it works.
OJS Installation & Configuration
OJS installed on your hosting or server with the database, files directory, SSL, SMTP email, scheduled tasks and security set up correctly.
OJS installation →OJS Theme Design
A custom, responsive OJS journal website: header, homepage, navigation and article pages that look professional to authors and reviewers.
OJS theme design →OJS Hosting
Hosting set up and tuned for OJS, with HTTPS, reliable email delivery, backups, updates and security looked after for you.
OJS hosting →OJS Upgrade & Migration
Safe upgrades from OJS 2.x or older 3.x releases, and moves to a new server or domain, tested on a staging copy first.
Upgrade & migration →OJS Technical Support
Fixes for errors, emails not sending, upload failures, spam registrations, hacked sites, plugin conflicts and slow pages.
Technical support →Journal Indexing Preparation
An honest readiness review and improvement plan for DOAJ, Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scholar. No guarantees, no shortcuts.
Indexing preparation →OJS SEO Services
Google Scholar meta tags, sitemaps, page speed and technical fixes that help researchers find, read and cite your articles.
OJS SEO →OJS Training
Live online training for journal managers, editors, reviewers and authors, based on your own journal and workflow.
OJS training →OJS Developer in India
Custom OJS development: plugins, theme work, integrations and multi-journal portals for journals and publishers worldwide.
OJS development →Which OJS service do I need?
Most journals come to us in one of the situations below. Find the one closest to yours to see what usually helps first.
| Your situation | What usually helps first | Start with |
|---|---|---|
| Launching a new journal | A correct installation, a professional journal website, clear policies, DOIs and a trained editorial team. Read how to start an academic journal for the full picture. | Installation + Theme design |
| Existing OJS journal looks dated | A redesigned theme with clear navigation, visible policies and editorial board, and mobile-friendly article pages. | Theme design |
| Journal is broken, slow or hacked | Diagnosis from logs, a backup, then a fix. For hacked sites: removing injected spam pages and backdoors, then hardening. | Technical support |
| Preparing for DOAJ or Scopus | A gap analysis against the database's published criteria, then fixing policies, metadata and website issues before applying. | Indexing preparation |
| Running an old OJS version (2.x, 3.0–3.2) | An upgrade to a maintained release, tested on a copy of the site so published content, URLs and DOIs keep working. | Upgrade & migration |
| Articles not showing in Google Scholar | Checking meta tags, PDF quality, sitemaps and robots rules so Scholar can crawl and index each article. | OJS SEO |
| New editors who do not know OJS | Hands-on sessions on submissions, peer review, issues and publishing, using your own journal's settings. | Training |
If your situation spans several rows, that is normal. We will suggest an order that avoids doing work twice, for example upgrading before redesigning a theme.
How our OJS services work
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Free consultation
You tell us about your journal: its stage, your OJS version, hosting and goals. We ask questions and, where needed, look at the live site before suggesting anything.
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Written plan
You receive a clear plan: what we will do, in what order, what access we need, what you need to provide and a realistic timeline.
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Work on a staging copy
Upgrades, theme changes and risky fixes are done on a copy of your site first, after a full backup. Your live journal keeps running while we work, and you review the result before anything goes live.
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Handover and training
We go live, check that everything works, and hand over documentation and credentials. If your team needs it, we walk them through the changes or arrange OJS training.
Who we work with
- Universities and colleges launching or consolidating institutional journals.
- Research institutes and academic societies running one or more society journals.
- Small and independent publishers managing several journals on one OJS installation.
- Editors and editorial boards who need the platform to just work.
- University IT teams who want an OJS specialist alongside them for upgrades or problems.
- Independent scholars starting a journal and wanting to do it properly from day one.
Why choose OJS Academy for OJS services
- OJS-only focus. We work exclusively with Open Journal Systems, so we know its settings, plugins, upgrade paths and common failure points.
- Publishing knowledge, not just hosting skills. 10+ years in scholarly publishing means we also understand peer review, policies, metadata and what indexing databases look for.
- Ethical and honest. We never promise guaranteed indexing, impact factors or fast-track acceptance. We prepare journals to meet published criteria and let the work speak for itself.
- Safe ways of working. Backups before changes, staging copies for risky work, and least-privilege access to your systems.
- You stay in control. Documentation, credentials and backups are handed over, so your journal never depends on us.
Prefer to do it yourself?
Our free OJS guides cover installation, themes, common errors, spam, DOIs and indexing step by step. Many journals solve their problem with a guide alone, and we are happy when that happens.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are OJS services?
OJS services are professional help with Open Journal Systems, the free, open-source journal platform developed by the Public Knowledge Project (PKP). They cover everything around the software: installing and configuring OJS, designing the journal website, hosting it, upgrading old versions, fixing technical problems, setting up DOIs, improving visibility in Google Scholar and preparing the journal for indexing databases.
Can you set up a complete OJS journal website from scratch?
Yes. For a new journal we usually combine installation and configuration, a custom theme, journal policies and DOI setup, and finish with training for your editorial team. You get a working, documented OJS journal website that your team can run.
Do you only work with OJS?
Yes. OJS Academy focuses only on Open Journal Systems and the academic publishing work around it. We do not build general-purpose websites. That focus is why we can diagnose OJS problems, plan upgrades and prepare journals for indexing efficiently.
Can you guarantee indexing in Scopus, DOAJ or Web of Science?
No, and nobody honestly can. Indexing decisions are made independently by each database's editorial or review team. What we do is prepare your journal properly: policies, metadata, website quality and publishing consistency. Anyone who promises guaranteed indexing should be treated with caution. See our indexing preparation service for how we approach it.
Are you affiliated with PKP, the developers of OJS?
No. OJS Academy is an independent service provider. OJS is developed and maintained by the Public Knowledge Project (PKP). We follow PKP's official releases and documentation and recommend the PKP Community Forum as a free source of help.
We already have an OJS journal. Can you work on it?
Yes. Much of our work is on existing journals: redesigning dated themes, upgrading old OJS versions, fixing errors, cleaning up spam or hacked sites and preparing for indexing. We start by reviewing the current installation so nothing is changed without a backup and a plan.
Where are you based, and do you work with journals in other countries?
OJS Academy is based in India and works remotely with journals, universities and publishers worldwide. All communication is in English, by email, WhatsApp or scheduled calls. You can reach us through the contact page.
Tell us about your journal
Share where your journal is today and what you want to achieve. We will reply within 24 hours with honest advice on the next step.
