How to Migrate from OJS to ScholarJMS

Migrating from Open Journal Systems (OJS) to ScholarJMS involves exporting your existing article archive, transferring editorial board data, redirecting your domain, and importing your ISSN and CrossRef configuration.

Why Journals Migrate from OJS

OJS is an open-source system that requires self-hosting on a server with PHP, MySQL, and regular updates. Common reasons journals migrate to a managed cloud platform like ScholarJMS:

Server management burden — Hosting, PHP upgrades, plugin conflicts, and security patches require ongoing technical effort
Outdated UI — OJS default themes are dated; customization requires PHP/template knowledge
Plugin unreliability — OJS plugins for DOI, ORCID, and CrossRef frequently break across version updates
No support — OJS is community-supported; there is no official helpdesk for editorial workflow issues
Migration from OJS 2 to OJS 3 — Many journals still on OJS 2.x find migration to OJS 3 as complex as migrating to a new platform

Migration Steps

1. Export article archive from OJS

Use OJS's native export tools (XML export or the Articles & Issues XML plugin) to export all published articles with metadata. Include abstracts, author details, keywords, DOIs, and file attachments.

2. Export user database

Export the author, reviewer, and editor accounts from OJS. Match email addresses to existing ScholarJMS accounts or import as new users.

3. Configure ScholarJMS

Set up the journal in ScholarJMS with the same ISSN, journal title, editorial board, and aims & scope. Configure the peer review workflow to match the journal's current process.

4. Import historical articles

Import the exported XML into ScholarJMS. ScholarJMS support can assist with bulk import of historical content.

5. Configure CrossRef DOI redirects

Update CrossRef metadata to point DOI URLs to the new ScholarJMS article pages. This ensures existing DOIs continue to resolve correctly.

6. Set up 301 redirects

Configure 301 redirects from old OJS article URLs (/index.php/journal/article/view/123) to the new ScholarJMS URLs. This preserves SEO authority and prevents broken links.

7. DNS and domain transfer

Update DNS records to point the journal domain to ScholarJMS hosting. ScholarJMS supports custom domains.

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. DOIs are permanent identifiers that point to URLs you control. During migration, you update the CrossRef URL redirect from your old OJS URLs to the new ScholarJMS URLs. The DOIs themselves never change.

Not if redirects are set up correctly. Configure 301 redirects from old article URLs to the new ScholarJMS article URLs. Google Scholar will update its index within weeks. ScholarJMS supports OAI-PMH to accelerate re-indexing.

A straightforward migration with fewer than 500 articles typically takes 2–4 weeks including data transfer, redirect configuration, and testing. Larger archives may take longer.

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