LibraryPress@UF at the George A. Smathers Libraries supports over 20 open access journals publishing on Florida Online Journals (Florida OJ), an open source digital publishing platform produced by the Public Knowledge Project supported in partnership with FLVC. This software supports editors working through all stages of the editorial process, from submission to publication. Florida OJ allows authors to submit manuscripts, editors to assign peer reviewers, reviewers to submit their reviews, and editors to manage workflows for copyediting, design, and final publication.
Proposals for open journals are accepted on a rolling basis. If you are interested in starting a new journal, please fill out our consultation form once you have reviewed all information on this page. For a more in-depth look, check out the UF Libraries Guide to Publishing with Florida OJ and the FLVC Florida OJ LibGuide for an introduction, onboarding step-by-step instructions, and other resources to journal publishing with LibraryPress@UF and Florida OJ.
Every journal publisher must sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with LibraryPress@UF and the George A. Smathers Libraries in order to publish in Florida OJ. The MOU provides details of the responsibilities and expectations of the Sponsoring Organization (the journal) and the Libraries.
For any additional questions or concerns, please contact Kat Nguyen, Publications Editorial Coordinator, at knguyen1@ufl.edu.
Available Support Services
- Editorial workflow consultation
- Assistance with site launch and editorial liaison support for training
- ISSN assignment
- Web hosting
- Policy development
- Usage statistics
- Recommended language for editorial policies
- DOI registration
- Customized designs for website banners and logos
- Basic technical support and troubleshooting
- Annual conference proceedings with a connection to or a sponsor from the University of Florida are eligible for publication in Florida OJ. For one-time conference proceedings, we will guide you through other options, such as uploading a PDF for preservation to the IR@UF or publishing a book of formal proceedings through PressBooks.
Journal Requirements
- New journals must have at least one person with a current University of Florida affiliation who will serve on the journal’s initial editorial board. Existing journals must have at least one person with a current University of Florida affiliation serving on the editorial board. Journals are free to accept submissions from non-UF scholars.
- Student journals must have a department or unit that will sponsor or be directly affiliated with the journal to ensure stability.
- Undergraduate student-run journals must involve at least one post-graduate level (graduate students or faculty) individual in the editorial and review process to uphold standards of academic research and rigor. For additional information regarding this requirement, please contact Kat Nguyen at knguyen1@ufl.edu.
- The department or unit sponsor/affiliate must be an individual.
- Journals will not charge author processing charges (APCs) to submit or publish articles.
- Journals will allow authors to retain copyright of their own work.
- The LP@UF recommends that journals use a Creative Commons license to mutually benefit interests of the journal and the author.
- Journals must ensure that any students involved in the production of the journal are paid, provided course credit, afforded professionalization support (as is the case for student-run journals), or a combination of two or more of these for their work.
- The staff of the journal must check all bibliographic references appearing in accepted manuscripts and add DOIs for any that are missing them (see information from Crossref).
- At least one member of the editorial board should take the PKP School’s Setting Up a Journal in OJS 3 online course to familiarize themselves with the platform and its functions. While we can provide basic troubleshooting for technical problems with the platform, we cannot provide full tech support or production work for individual journals.
- The LibraryPress@UF reserves the right to act on behalf of our journals in the following matters:
- ISSN registration
- Submitting the journal for consideration for indexing in EBSCO and the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
- Whenever resources allow, the LibraryPress@UF will stay in communication with journal editors about best practices for open access journal publishing, including informing the editors about ways to professionalize the journal and updating them about new and ongoing professionalization projects for journals that the LP@UF is developing.
- The LibraryPress@UF reserves the right to ensure that the design, branding, and content of the journal site complies with web and accessibility standards and University of Florida policies and the LibraryPress@UF’s internal templates.
