Upgrade from Open Journal Systems
With Zero Downtime
Eliminate server maintenance headaches, broken plugins, and manual XML conversions. Manna Manuscript migrates your entire publishing lineage—historical volumes, active submissions, reviewer scorecards, and Crossref DOIs—into a modern, automated journal management platform.
Why Scholarly Publishers Outgrow Self-Hosted OJS
Open Journal Systems paved the way for open-access publishing, but managing self-hosted infrastructure pulls editorial teams away from their core mission of evaluating and publishing great research.
Server & Patching Overhead
The OJS Challenge
Requires dedicated Linux sysadmins to patch PHP, MySQL, Apache/Nginx, and apply manual OJS security updates.
The Manna Solution
100% cloud-hosted SaaS. Automated daily backups, zero server maintenance, and seamless continuous platform updates.
Fragmented Plugin Architecture
The OJS Challenge
Plagiarism screening, DOI deposits, and XML exports depend on community plugins that frequently break during upgrades.
The Manna Solution
All core publishing services built natively: Manna Plag integrity checks, instant Crossref DOI deposits, and JATS 1.3 XML.
Reviewer Chasing & Delay
The OJS Challenge
Editors manually track review deadlines and draft individual follow-up emails, lengthening publication cycles.
The Manna Solution
Automated reminder cadences, one-click reviewer access without login barriers, and structured scoring rubrics.
Complex XML & Indexing Handoffs
The OJS Challenge
Manual XML tagging and third-party tools required to prepare papers for PubMed Central, DOAJ, and Scopus.
The Manna Solution
Single-source automated JATS 1.3 XML generation with instant OAI-PMH syndication feeds out of the box.
You Don't Have to Start Over
Our automated migration engine ingests your entire publishing history with zero loss of citation data, preserving indexing rankings and institutional memory.
100% DOI & Link Preservation
All historical Crossref DOIs, volume URLs, and cited literature links remain intact with seamless redirection.
Complete Back-Issue Archives
Every published volume, issue, article PDF, abstract, and publication date is ingested into your new journal portal.
Reviewer & Editorial Lineage
Reviewer profiles, disciplinary keywords, past review records, and editorial tenure are migrated into Manna's matchmaker.
Zero Editorial Downtime
We run a phased parallel workflow. Active submissions complete in OJS while new submissions launch seamlessly on Manna.
The 5-Step Manna Migration Methodology
A predictable, battle-tested roadmap engineered to protect live editorial operations and author trust.
Data Export & Migration
Migrate journal archives, active submissions, user accounts, reviewer records and publication metadata from your existing OJS installation or database.
Data Mapping & Validation
We map journals, users, manuscript records, editorial stages, reviewer data and metadata fields into the Manna Manuscript structure and validate the migrated data.
Staging & Verification
Your migrated journals are deployed in a secure staging environment so your team can verify manuscripts, users, archives, metadata and DOI records before launch.
Editorial Team Onboarding
Editors, Editors-in-Chief and administrative teams are trained on the configured workflows before the system goes live.
Go Live & Transition
After validation, your journals move to Manna Manuscript with a planned transition designed to minimize disruption to active submissions and editorial work.
Need a tailored migration timeline for your journal portfolio?
Our systems architect can audit your current OJS database dump and provide an exact cutover plan.
Self-Hosted OJS vs. Manna Manuscript
See how a modern, purpose-built publishing platform streamlines every touchpoint compared to legacy self-hosting.
| Capability | Self-Hosted OJS (2.x / 3.x) | Manna Manuscript |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting & Infrastructure | Self-managed Linux/MySQL server with manual maintenance | High-availability enterprise cloud with 99.9% uptime SLA |
| System Upgrades | High-risk manual upgrades with frequent database script failures | Zero-downtime automatic cloud updates with backwards compatibility |
| JATS 1.3 XML Production | Manual third-party typesetting or fragile community plugins | Native automated JATS 1.3 XML, HTML, and publication PDF generation |
| Plagiarism & AI Screening | External manual export or expensive disconnected plugins | Built-in Manna Plag pre-screening before reviewer assignment |
| Crossref DOI Minting | Plugin-dependent XML export with manual error reconciliation | Real-time automated Crossref API deposit with Crossmark updates |
| Author & Reviewer Experience | Complex multi-step forms with mandatory password logins | Mobile-first, modern UI with secure one-click review portals |
| Technical Support | Community forum assistance only | Dedicated publishing account manager and 24/7 SLA technical team |
Ready to Upgrade from OJS?
Book a 30-minute migration walkthrough with our publishing architects. We will review your current OJS setup, estimate cutover timelines, and provide a staging roadmap.