Streamlining Depositing, OJS Plugins
At Ubiquity Press we’re working on a plugin for OJS that will allow Authors to upload their supplementary files directly to Figshare.
What has that got to do with depositing?
Well, it’s the first stage in a three stage project. We intend to write not one, but three plugins[1]:
- Deposit supp files to Figshare
- Deposit supp files to Dryad/Other repos
- Interface for JISC Router to collect articles
This also allows for your data files, figures and code to be cited independently of the actual article, as Figshare will assign them a DOI.
What are OJS and Figshare?
OJS, Open Journal System, is a web application supported by the Public Knowledge Project and is widely used for self/institutionally hosted Journals. Ubiquity Press’ Journal Management System is a customised version of OJS.
Figshare is an online digital repository where researchers can preserve and share their research outputs, including figures, datasets, images, and videos. It is free to upload content and free to access, in adherence to the principle of open data. [2]
How will it work?
The plugin will be hooked into the submission process and will give the user the option to submit their supplementary files to Figshare rather than directly into the Journal. The DOI assigned by Figshare is stored and, on publication of the article, the Editor can select which files should be published alongside the article.
The article page will then display title, description and a DOI link to the supp file.
Will others be able to use it?
Absolutely! We’re building the plugin in the open, it can be found on Github [3], you’re welcome to clone the project and contribute to it. When the project is complete we will be building a zip release that can be dropped into the OJS plugin installer, but there are instructions on how to install the development version.
What state is it in?
The plugin is currently in development, but works quite well. We have yet to hook it into the submission process or the “In Editing” section of OJS and these functions will be available soon.
You can see the plugin in action on Youtube:
Additional Functions
We will be adding an additional function to allow the author to deposit their article directly to Figshare as well.
About the Project
Streamlining Depositing is a City University Centre for Information Science and Ubiquity Press project funded by JISC #DataSpring.
Project Lead — Ernesto Priego, City University
Lead Developer — Andy Byers, Ubiquity Press
Developer — Mauro Sanchez, Ubiquity Press
UX/UI — Stephann Makri, City University
The project includes output in the form of our plugins but also in the form of best practice documentation and various research outputs.
