FAQ

HOPE stands for Hauptbibliothek Open Publishing Environment and is a service of the University Library Zurich (UB) in the area of Academic Publishing with Open Access. Through HOPE, UZH researchers can publish their own open access academic journals. This service is offered by UB based on the infrastructure of the Central IT (ZI). The open source software Open Journal Systems (OJS) serves as the underlying platform.

Below you will find some important information about the HOPE service. The topics are divided into an organizational and a technical part.

1 Organizational Issues

1.1 How is HOPE financed?

In 2015/2016, HOPE was start-up funded as a project supported by swissuniversities and has since been an established service of the UB.

 

1.2 Who can publish an open access journal via HOPE?

UZH researchers, (1) if a UZH institute publishes the journal, (2) if department chairs are the chief editors, or (3) if UZH members are on the editorial board. The affiliation should be as long-term as possible.

 

1.3 What terms and conditions are necessary for the publication of open access journals via HOPE?

To publish a journal via HOPE an agreement must be signed in advance between the editors of the journal and the UB.

Furthermore a publication agreement between the editors and the authors is strongly recommended. The presented template of a publication agreement has already been reviewed by the Legal Services of the University of Zurich. The Creative Commons License contained theirein must be specified in each case. We recommend using the CC BY license whenever possible.

 

1.4 Who is responsible for the HOPE service?

HOPE is operated by the University Library Zurich based on the infrastructure of the Central IT of the University of Zurich. We offer support and advice on publishing open access journals.

 

1.5 What are the costs of hosting journals on HOPE?

HOPE is free of charge for UZH researchers at present. However, costs may be incurred at a later date.

 

1.6 Can a newly established journal be published on HOPE?

Yes. If you would like to publish a journal on HOPE, please contact us for a consultation. For more information on publishing open access journals, click here.

 

1.7 Can existing journals be migrated to HOPE?

The organizational and technical options for migration must be decided on a case-by-case basis. Earlier publications can either be migrated to HOPE or also be newly uploaded.

 

1.8 What does our service include, and what tasks are the responsibility of the editors?

HOPE-Team: Operation and maintenance of the OJS-based publication platform including storage of full texts; operation and access to the test server for editors; organization of DOIs (Digital Object Identifiers); consulting on indexing issues; setup of CSS templates according to the editors' parameters, migration from the test to the productive server; consulting, training and support.

Editors of the journal: editorial processes (editorial team, call for papers, handling, review and editing of submitted articles, layout of individual articles (with the support of a publisher, if necessary)); input of information texts for the journal (multilingual, if necessary); set-up of issues and sections as well as upload of individual articles; communication of desired website branding to the HOPE-Team.

The migration of existing journals and contents is arranged by the University Library with the editors in each case.

 

2 Technical Issues

2.1 What software does HOPE use to manage and publish scholarly journals?

HOPE is built on Open Journal Systems (OJS). OJS is a globally distributed open source platform from the Public Knowledge Projects for publishing and managing journals.

The entire publication process can be performed via OJS: From online submission, to forwarding the contributions to reviewers, to the publication of the final articles. OJS also allows a direct, uncomplicated publication of articles if the communication between the editors and the authors is to continue outside the platform (quick submission). For more information on the features of OJS, click here.

 

2.2 How can I design my journal?

You are quite free in the design of the journal website (e.g. colors, fonts). Only the basic structure of the web page is predefined. This consists of a horizontal header area, a main section, a right column and a horizontal footer area. The contents may be freely added. There are also pre-configured plugins that can be activated according to your own wishes. You get access to our test server and can test configurations on the website yourself. We offer a sample layout, which is close to the UZH design. OJS also offers a few templates for the design of the journal, which can also be used.

Some menus of the start page, Current Issue, Archive and About Us, are predefined by the system – but can be renamed as desired. Other menus and subpages can be added individually, as well as blocks in the sidebars can be configured freely. A minimum requirement from our side is a note about the hosting of HOPE as well as the logo of UZH in the footer area of the journal website. [See e.g.: Journal für Psychoanalyse]

 

2.3 Which publication formats are supported by HOPE?

Publications can be published as PDF, HTML, EPUB or XML. The format in which the publications are to appear online is defined by the editors. The editors are responsible for providing the format. In addition, OJS also supports various audio, video, and image formats.

 

2.4 Is it possible to migrate content from existing journals?

The technical feasibility of the migration will be examined on a case-by-case basis. For existing journals, the previous publications can either be migrated to HOPE or newly uploaded.

 

2.5 What about the allocation of DOIs?

The Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) are obtained via Crossref. The costs for registration are covered by the UB.

 

2.6 Where are the journals of HOPE indexed?

The OJS software is provided with an OAI-PMH interface, which allows the metadata to be passed on to other retrieval and/or library systems. In addition, various export formats to literature management programs (Citavi, Mendeley, Zotero) can be selected. More information about the functionalities on OJS can be found here.

Further, the HOPE-Team submits the journal to Google Webmaster Console, which indexes the articles in Google and Google Scholar. In addition, we advise editors where indexing could be beneficial (e.g. Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ).

 

2.7 Where are the HOPE articles archived for the long term?

Long-term archiving is performed via the PKP Preservation Network (PKP PN) using the LOCKSS system.