Last summer, Chris Conway and Ignacio Ruiz-Perez approached me about helping them with a new idea they had – a Spanish-language literary journal for UT Arlington students called Cuaderna Vía. They already had an issue’s worth of content, but needed help producing the tangible journal.
Over those months, we designed and produced a print edition of Cuaderna Vía’s first issue, but I also spent time using Open Journal Systems (OJS), a component of the Public Knowledge Project, to produce our online version, found here:
Cuaderna Vía is not a peer-reviewed journal – but OJS does provide the capability of setting up a peer-review, online journal. Within the system, as the editor of a journal, you can accept manuscripts, assign reviewers to them, copy-edit them, and produce a completely customized online version of your journal.
It’s not as easy to set up as many Web 2.0 applications out there – you can’t simply log in somewhere and it’s all ready for you. You will need to assistance of someone with passing knowledge of web database applications (preferably PHP/MySQL). But beyond the initial setup, it’s a matter of filling in forms to set up your look and feel and routine tasks to operate your journal.
Dr. Conway and Dr. Ruiz-Perez are using it to showcase the work of their students. I can see OJS providing an excellent learning opportunity for would-be academics – learning first hand how to be a reviewer and how to write an article able to withstand the peer-review process. OJS will also open up student work for the world to see.
Here are some of my ideas I am doing. I teach LIST courses (Literacy studies) in the College of Education and Health Professions. I am a second year professor. Here is my webpage: 