What is a Journal Management System?
Complete guide to Journal Management Systems (JMS): Learn what a JMS is, why it's essential for academic publishing, compare OJS vs ScholarJMS, and discover why ScholarJMS is the world's best JMS for SCOPUS, Web of Science, UGC CARE indexing readiness.
Academic and research publishing has transformed more in the past decade than in the entire century before it. Research journals that once relied on paper submissions via post and email based review cycles now need automation, metadata rich indexing, Crossref DOI registration, plagiarism checking, transparent peer review and global accessibility. Managing all this manually is nearly impossible for editorial teams. That is why modern publishers use an advanced tool known as a Journal Management System.
A Journal Management System is the backbone of any research journal. It handles every stage of the publishing cycle from manuscript submission to peer review, revision tracking, acceptance, APC (Article Processing Charges) collections, publication & indexing (in Google Scholar, SCOPUS, Web of Science (WoS), PubMed). Without a proper system in place, journals struggle to grow, lose time in manual coordination and fail to meet international indexing standards like Google Scholar, SCOPUS, Web of Science (WoS), PubMed, UGC CARE.
This detailed blog explains everything about Journal Management Systems, how Journal Management Systems work, why Journal Management Systems are essential, how Journal Management Systems compare with alternatives and why ScholarJMS is currently the most advanced Journal Management System in the world.
You are about to read the most comprehensive guide available online.
1. What is a Journal Management System?
A Journal Management System is a specialised software platform designed to manage academic journals in an organised, automated and scalable way. Instead of relying on emails and spreadsheets, Journal Management System provides a professional online framework where every stakeholder can work efficiently. Authors can clearly view journal policies, publication standards, indexing status and guidelines for submission. Once satisfied, they can submit manuscripts within a few simple steps and keep track of their manuscript in editorial flow. Editors can review submissions, make preliminary decisions, forward manuscripts for peer review, and coordinate revisions. After acceptance, articles move through copyediting, publication, Crossref DOI assignment and finally get archived for permanent global access.
A Journal Management System performs five major functions:
Submission Management (See Example>>)
Authors upload manuscripts directly through the portal. The system accepts files, metadata, plagiarism report, figures and supporting documents. It generates submission ID, notifies editors and stores author details securely.
Transperent Peer Review and Decision Tracking (See Example>>)
Reviewers are assigned through the platform like scholar9.com and they can submit comments, recommendations, revision notes and reports within the same system. Editors track the movement of each article with clear status indicators like Under Review, Revision Required or Accepted.
Publishing and Crossref DOI Generation
Once accepted, the manuscript moves into the publishing stage. A good Journal Management System supports Crossref DOI assignment, article landing page creation, issue structuring and online release.
Archiving and Indexing Connectivity
Research papers must remain accessible for decades. The Journal Management System archives all volumes and issues permanently and supports indexing services through OAI PMH, sitemaps and citation formats.
Editorial Workflow Automation
Instead of managing emails, the system sends automated notifications for reviewer deadlines, author revisions, acceptance messages and Crossref DOI confirmations. This reduces workload and improves publication speed.
A Journal Management System is not just software. It is the engine that keeps a journal operational and progressive.
2. Why Use a Dedicated Journal Management System Instead of a Custom Website?
Many new publishers believe any Information Technology company can build a journal website. A normal website can indeed display articles but it cannot manage scholarly publishing workflows. Research journals require far more than PDF uploading or contact forms.
A custom built general website will always lack these critical scholarly features:
A Journal Management System ensures that the journal has international standard publication architecture. It enforces proper article metadata, makes Crossref DOI deposits smooth, maintains XML friendly structure and reduces dependency on developers.
🎯 This is where ScholarJMS becomes a game changing solution.
ScholarJMS provides a complete journal website builder along with workflow automation. You do not need technical staff. You do not need to hire programmers. You do not need external CMS. You simply log in and manage your journal instantly.
Instead of stitching a website manually, using a Journal Management System like ScholarJMS is the smarter choice for long term success.
3. Comparison with Open Source Solutions like Open Journal system (OJS)
Open Journal Systems (OJS) is the most well-known open source journal software. It is widely used across universities but it is not easy for beginners. OJS needs technical installation, hosting environment setup, OJS plugin configuration, OJS theme development and continuous maintenance. So, for such kind of journal website using Open Journal system (OJS), you need to hire a OJSCloud.com: An OJS expert, Best OJS hosting provider, Best OJS theme developer, OJS security expert (Click here for detail>>)
Challenges with OJS:
✗ Installation requires Linux server and command line expertise
✗ Plugins break during updates
✗ Version upgrades are time consuming
✗ Malware attacks happen frequently if the site is not monitored (see More>>)
✗ Editors cannot handle it without a technical team
✗ Customisation costs increase as the journal grows
⚠️ OJS is powerful and flexible but complexity makes it difficult for universities that do not have IT departments or programming teams.
Now compare this with a modern cloud based Journal Management System like ScholarJMS.
ScholarJMS vs OJS
OJS remains valuable for developers and institutions with in house IT resources. But most editors need something simpler and faster. That is where ScholarJMS stands as a superior practical alternative.
4. Comparison with Other Private Journal Management Systems
There are several private commercial publishing systems like EJManager and Editorial Manager. These systems handle review workflow but lack modern automation, academic website CMS and instant DOI support. Most of them focus only on editorial processing and not on full journal visibility.
Common limitations in private systems:
✗ Weak website design
✗ Non responsive UI
✗ Limited CMS content control
✗ DOI workflow not streamlined
✗ Indexing preparation not automatic
✗ No international ISSN compliance support
✗ Slow deployment and expensive customization
⚠️ A Journal Management System must simplify work not complicate it. Many private tools feel heavy and outdated which results in slower author adoption and review delays.
🌟 ScholarJMS on the other hand
offers a modern publication environment with AI assisted metadata, article centric design, reviewer friendly dashboard and compliance ready architecture.
Additional Journal Management Systems for your knowledge
5. ScholarJMS as the World's Best Journal Management System
ScholarJMS is currently the most advanced Journal Management System for new and established journals. It is designed to take a publication from zero to launch in a single day. Almost 90 percent of core architecture is pre built which means editors only need to add journal details and start accepting submissions immediately.
Why ScholarJMS is the best Journal Management System?
✓ Provides complete journal website builder capability
✓ Covers submission, transparent peer review, acceptance, publication and UGC CARE, Google Scholar indexing in one place, without any extra efforts
✓ Crossref DOI ready architecture for instant deposit
✓ OAI compatible for Google Scholar and indexing harvesters
✓ Transparent peer review through Scholar9 integration
✓ Strong security and cloud infrastructure
✓ No server work needed no coding needed no plugins required
✓ Scopus and UGC CARE documentation aligned
✓ ISSN application friendly structure for India USA Philippines
✓ Responsive UI for authors reviewers and editors
✓ Can launch a new journal in twenty-four hours
The journal jetbt.org is an example of a publication launched in one day using ScholarJMS. This proves capability not just concept.
ScholarJMS is a modern Journal Management System, built for the present and future of academic research publishing. It reduces workload, increases efficiency, improves visibility and ensures global indexing readiness.
Conclusion: ScholarJMS is the Best Journal Management System in the World
A Journal Management System is essential for any modern research journal. It manages submission workflow, Transperent Peer Review tracking via scholar9.com, Crossref DOI assignment, article publishing and long term archiving. Without it, journals struggle and fail to meet global standards.
Other Options:
- Open Journal System (OJS) is powerful but complicated and needs expert like OJSCloud
- Other private systems work but lack automation
- Traditional website development does not meet academic publishing requirements
ScholarJMS Advantage:
- ✓ Simple
- ✓ Fast
- ✓ Secure
- ✓ Complete
- ✓ Indexing ready
🌟 Final Verdict
ScholarJMS stands above all because it is simple, fast, secure, complete and indexing ready. It is the world's best Journal Management System for universities, institutes, publishers and new journals who want to grow without technical barriers. If you want to start your journal smartly with modern infrastructure, ScholarJMS is the solution.
Get Started with ScholarJMS
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If you want to launch a new journal, migrate from OJS, or modernize your publishing workflow, visit:
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ScholarJMS is not just a journal software, it is the future of scholarly publishing, engineered for speed, accuracy, and global impact.