Library publishing varies greatly between libraries, for those looking to explore it, hosting is a relatively cheap option. Basically, this is where the library provides a platform to host new and existing journals and monographs. In its simplest form this may be loading the content into the institutional repository, not necessarily for preservation, rather to provide a platform to disseminate the publications.

A more advanced option would be to provide a more customized platform for a journal. In their 2012 study, Crow reported that 57% of journal publishing platforms were hosted by OJS, 36% by DSpace and 25% by BePress’s Digital Commons. In the UK there are also a number of Libraries using Eprints Repository software for journal hosting such as the HOAP platform at the University of Huddersfield, established in 2011.

Examples of OA journals by platform are available here (with thanks to Nick Sheppard at Leeds Metropolitan University for permission to adapt his original list.

Open Journals Systems (OJS) is the most popular open access journals system – OJS was developed by the Public Knowledge Project, a non-profit organisation that originated at the University of British Columbia. It is now the leading open source journal platform with over 9,000 journals worldwide, over 50% of software supporting library services. One of these, York Digital Journals (YDJ), a library journal hosting services for the humanities and social sciences at the University of York has recently published a case study on implication.  The case study reports that a strength of the OJS workflow is the author submission process and peer review management which is an ‘integral part of the software suite’. OJS is typically implemented in house and maintained locally, which has implications for staffing in that a hosted solution does not require the same technical support that is required by a local implementation of open source software. Although aimed at an editorial viewpoint, OJS in an Hour: An Introduction to Open Journal Systems shows a detailed workflow:

A benefit of the hosted solution is a reduced staff resource for support, in addition, ‘technical support’ to faculty tends to be supporting the provision of DOIs etc. rather than supporting technical issues with the platform.

The Berkerley Electronic Press platform (bepress) platform is a centrally hosted proprietary solution service for open access journals, bepress is used by a number of universities in the United States, such as the University of South Florida. It is also the most used platform for university presses who preserve their content in Portico. According to an account of a journal setup at the University of South Florida, editors provide a logo to bepress, editors are then trained on the use of the platform by bepress. There is a submission process where authors submit a paper online, this process allows the editors to assign reviewers and look after all administrative aspects of the journals

The Repository option tends to be a more in house solution, using systems that are already in place. This probably accounts for DSpace being the second largest platform for US library publishers. The Repository systems tend to lack the more sophisticated back end systems of OJS and BePress, but they are a potential cheaper hosting solution. In addition, the very nature of the Repository platform concept is one of dissemination and usability, journals published in this way could blend into an existing Repository or as a standalone publication or suite of publications as well as benefitting from the discoverability via Google (Scholar) and web scale discovery platforms.

In the UK, the HOAP project has concentrated on workflows and discoverability of articles through the EPrints platform. However, there is a significant amount of work that could be done in developing a back-end to the platform. This would enable authors to deposit their articles directly into the system, which could then be peer reviewed, copy edited and published via a series of workflows. It is anticipated that the RIOJA toolkit could be used to facilitate this area of development. Another project, EPICURE, led by University College London aimed to develop and make public an XML template for UCL e-publishing, could also be used to develop repositories as publisher platforms.

It is interesting to note that both UCL led Jisc project used both OJS and Eprints repository software.

Finally, it is also worth noting that there are other alternatives to library publishing platforms out there, most noticeably, blogging software, such as WordPress, however, this does raise questions about dissemination. Use example from Insights

4.1. The new university presses
4.2 Hosting
4.3 Librarian expertise
4.4 Publishing
4.5 Challenges
4.6 Sustainability