Journal publishing options with SFU Library

On this page

Learn about opportunities for SFU faculty, students, and staff to work with SFU Library Digital Publishing to publish open access journals using Open Journal Systems.

How do I start a journal with my class?
Engage students as creators of information by involving them in contributing, editing, and publishing content.
How can I start a student-run journal?
Any group of undergraduate or graduate students at SFU can start a student run journal. We can help!
How can I publish a new open access journal with the library?
Work with SFU Library Digital Publishing to publish an open access journal using Open Journal Systems.

Journal publishing at SFU Library

The Digital Publishing team at SFU Library can help faculty and students who are interested in creating an open access journal. 

SFU Library Digital Publishing uses Open Journal Systems (OJS), an open source journal management platform developed by the Public Knowledge Project, to host your open access journal. OJS assists with every stage of the refereed publishing process, from submissions through to online publication and indexing.

Steps for getting started

SFU Library Digital Publishing is interested in working with Canadian journals that have a strong SFU affiliation, are fully open access (with no author charges), and have plans to publish continuously. If you are interested in publishing a journal with us, please follow the steps below.

Eligibility for journal hosting

Journals meeting the following criteria are eligible for hosting and support through SFU Library Digital Publishing. Services provided and the terms of the hosting arrangement can be found in the Journal Hosting Memorandum of Agreement. 

Open access model and licensing 

(all below points are required): 

  • The journal will agree to make its contents publicly available online, free of charge, immediately upon publication and for as long as the journal is hosted by SFU Library Digital Publishing;
  • The journal will ensure that content published after the date of its signed agreement with the Simon Fraser University Library will be licensed with one of the Creative Commons Licenses; 
  • The journal will not charge fees to authors, including page charges or article processing charges.  

 SFU affiliation 

  • The journal operates through an SFU department(s), society, office, program, or other related entity   

OR 

  • The journal is affiliated with a Canadian scholarly, learned or professional association. 

AND 

  • The individual(s) responsible for academic content and executive management of the publication (Journal Manager, Editor-in-chief, or equivalent) holds a current SFU affiliation, defined as: 
    • Current faculty or staff holding a continuing SFU appointment 
    • For student journals (defined below): Current graduate or undergraduate students. 

SFU Library Digital Publishing reserves the right to cease support for journals whose SFU affiliations cease, either because the editorship changes hands, or because the editor’s SFU affiliation ends. This will be decided at SFU Library’s sole discretion and alternative hosting arrangements will be suggested for journals whose hosting arrangements cease due to a change in institutional affiliation. 

Eligibility for Journals Migrating From Another Service

  • Migrating Journals must meet the criteria for new journals as described above. Journals must have held an eligible SFU affiliation for a minimum of three years, or since the launch of the journal (if the journal is less than three years old). 
  • Migrating Journals must be on OJS version 3.0 or later and must be able to provide a complete content archive from the current service provider, or must make separate arrangements to migrate content. A one-time migration fee may apply. SFU Library DP may be able to facilitate non- OJS content migration for a fee - for more information, please contact us.

Eligibility for Student Journals

In addition to the eligibility requirements for new journals, student journals must have: 

  • Support of an SFU faculty or staff member who acts as a journal advisor and is listed on the journal masthead (ie About the Journal or Contact page). The SFU journal advisor will be responsible for ensuring continuity of the journal as per the continuity plan, described below. 
  • A continuity plan (detailed in the Journal Proposal Form) indicating the steps the journal will take to continue publishing and recruit and train new editorial board members as student editorial boards experience turnover. If at any time the student editorship ends with no new editorial team coming on board, the Faculty Advisor will notify SFU Library Digital Publishing who can temporarily or permanently archive the journal site. 

Learning Open Journal Systems (OJS)

The Digital Publishing Librarian can meet with you to help you set-up your journal in OJS. 

The following resources may also be useful in becoming familiar with the OJS software:

Creating a course journal

Course journals are online, open access academic journals published as part of a for-credit academic class.

See Publishing an open access journal with your class for more information.

Creating a student journal

Student journals are academic journals run primarily by a student body.

They may publish content produced by faculty, students, or the general public, and they may be run in collaboration with faculty, library staff, associations, or university administration.

Working on a student journal is a great way to build writing and editing skills, while becoming familiar with the scholarly publishing process. 

For student authors, having something published is a way to have your voice heard and represented. Additionally, having an article published in a peer reviewed, open access journal is great on your resume or CV -- especially if you plan on continuing your studies or pursue an academic career.  

For more details, see the Benefits and challenges of running a student journal.

 

Who can start a student journal?

Any group of undergraduate or graduate students at SFU can start a student run journal. These journals can be published within a faculty/discipline (e.g. SFU Educational Review), as interdisciplinary (e.g. Intersectional Apocalypse), or by a student association/group (e.g. Confluence).

Check out some sample student journals published through SFU Digital Publishing.

Student journal toolkit

Ready to get started with your student journal?

 PKP has created a Student Journal Toolkit with everything you need to know. 

Flipping an existing journal to open access

Publishing your journal open access will help you reach a wider audience and will facilitate the spread of knowledge around the world. 

If you are currently managing a subscription journal, the Digital Publishing team can work with you to flip your journal to open access and host your content with the Library. Contact us to learn more!

Check out these additional resources on flipping a journal to open access:

Contact us

For assistance with digital publishing, please contact digital-publishing@sfu.ca.

 
CC-BY-NC
This work, the Simon Fraser University Digital Publishing website, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise noted.