Developing an open journals hosting service: a case study from Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU)

The rise of the concept of ‘library as publisher’ has caused many university libraries to consider their role in the world of open access (OA) publishing and how that supports digital scholarship at their institutions. This paper outlines Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) Library Services’ first steps into that world through the offering of an open journals hosting service. It begins by explaining the background and justification for the library offering such a service and details the pilot undertaken to test the chosen system, Open Journal Systems (OJS). It considers what policies, procedures and support need to be in place in order to run a successful open journals hosting service. Lessons learned and observations gathered during the pilot are shared to help others considering setting up an open journals hosting service in their own institution. Finally it looks at the next steps for LJMU in taking this pilot forward to a full service offer