FAQ

The hosting of academic journals is an offer by the Open Access publishing service Hamburg University Press. All articles are published freely available (Open Access) under the license CC BY 4.0 or CC BY-SA 4.0. Publication is free of charge for researchers and scholars (no APCs = Article Processing Charges; so-called Diamond Open Access).

In the following list you will find frequently asked questions and answers about the service. If you do not find an answer to your question in the help, please feel free to contact us.

• Who can make use of the hosting service?
• What journals can be hosted?
• Is the offer subject to a fee for the editors?
• What does the hosting service do beyond purely technical hosting?
• What are the added values of hosting a journal through the Open Access publishing service?
• Is the digital publication of a previously exclusively printed academic journal possible as part of the hosting service?
• Does Hamburg University Press also publish printed journals?
• Can an existing digital academic journal be migrated to the hosting service?
• How does the hosting service support establishing a new digital academic journal?
• Can a journal be published in multiple languages?
• What file formats can be published?
• Does the open access publication service also take over editorial tasks?
• What measures for visibility and reach of the academic OA journal are provided by the hosting service?
• How can I check the reach and reuse of articles?

Who can make use of the hosting service?

The service is generally aimed at researchers and scholars from all disciplines who want to publish a quality-assured academic Open Access (OA) journal. We primarily host peer-reviewed OA journals that are edited by researchers and scholars from Hamburg's universities and universities of applied sciences. Please feel free to contact us, even if you are affiliated with a university or institute outside Hamburg.

What journals can be hosted?

The hosting service currently only includes peer-reviewed scholarly OA journals that publish first publications in the hosting service. This includes the following scenarios:

• start-up of a purely digital scholarly OA journal
• start-up of a hybrid scholarly OA journal (digital and print)
• transformation of a print journal into a digital or hybrid scholarly OA journal (simultaneous publication of print and digital editions)
• hosting of an existing purely digital scholarly OA journal

Basic hosting requirements:
All articles are published freely available (open access) under the CC BY 4.0 or CC BY-SA 4.0 license. A free license creates a clear legal basis. It supports the reach and reusability of the publications. Publication is free of charge for scientific authors (no APCs = article processing charges, so-called Diamond Open Access).

Note: The hosting offer only covers the digital journal. The realization of a printed edition is not part of the hosting service.

Hamburg University Press reserves the right to select the hosted journals.

Is the offer subject to a fee for the editors?

Yes, there are both one-time costs and ongoing costs associated with journal hosting. One-time costs are incurred for setting up the digital OA journal. Ongoing costs are incurred for hosting, administration and making the journal visible. More information about our services can be found in our service portfolio.

Please contact us if you are interested.

What does the Open Access publication service do beyond purely technical hosting?

The technical hosting of a journal essentially includes the provision of server capacity, the journal platform and its administration. In addition, the following services are offered as part of the hosting package:

• project management for the implementation of digital Open Access journals
• training on the Open Journal Systems platform software, Open Access publishing, Open Science, metadata requirements, persistent identifiers (Crossref DOI, ORCID, ROR), language concept, etc.
• workshops on the OJS software platform, the editorial system, and, if applicable, on how to incorporate previously published volumes
• article templates for the creation of article PDFs (Adobe inDesign, Affinity Publisher)
• contemporary journal template (HTML, multimedia, social media, metrics, citation display, incl. text templates for journal information DE/EN)
  Long-term archiving at DNB and in the LOCKSS network
• indexing at Google Scholar, Semantic Scholar, BASE, Crossref, DNB, DOAJ
• sandbox OJS system for tests by the editorial staff

Further information on the service portfolio of the hosting offer can also be found on our web pages.

What are the added values of hosting a journal through the Open Access publishing service?

Added value through the use of the platform

• professional open source software (Open Journal Systems = OJS) on current development status
• modern journal template (HTML, multimedia, social media, metrics, citation display, incl. text templates for journal information DE/EN)
• workflow for professional publication management (editorial process)
  persistent identifiers (Crossref DOI, ORCID, ROR)

Added value through service

• Knowledge transfer (including OJS, Open Access publishing, Open Science, metadata requirements, persistent identifiers (DOI, ORCID, ROR), language concept)
• contemporary article template (Open Science compliant)
• OJS quick reference guides (manuals)
• OJS sandbox system for learning and testing
• e-mail and video support

Added value through Open Access

• CC BY 4.0 or CC BY-SA 4.0 license
• improved reach, visibility, reusability

Added value through indexing

• automatic: Google Scholar, Semantic Scholar, BASE, Crossref, DNB
  support: DOAJ

Added value through services

• standardized offer (see also standards and guidelines)
• extensive service portfolio

Please contact us if you are interested.

Is the digital publication of a previously exclusively printed academic journal possible as part of the hosting service?

Yes - the transformation of a printed academic journal into a digital or hybrid scientific open access journal is possible in principle in cooperation with the open access publishing service.

The hosting service exclusively comprises the digital journal platform, on which publications can be made under the Creative Commons license CC BY or CC BY-SA 4.0. The realization of a printed edition is therefore not part of the offer (see service portfolio).

If the journal is to continue to be published in printed form by your currentpublisher, the publisher must agree to simultaneous open access publication with CC BY or CC BY-SA 4.0 license. The standards and guidelines apply. Please check your contract accordingly and contact your publisher.

Does Hamburg University Press also publish printed journals?

Unfortunately, the realization and publication of printed journals is not part of the offer. The hosting offer only includes the digital journal platform, on which publications can be made under the Creative Commons license CC BY or CC BY-SA 4.0 Open Access.

Further information on the service portfolio of the hosting offer can also be found on our website.

Can I migrate an existing digital academic journal to the hosting service?

Yes - it is possible to migrate an an existing digital academic journal to the hosting service. An existing OJS journal can be easily transferred to the hosting service. In the case of a journal that was previously hosted elsewhere, the procedure is similar to setting up a new digital journal. Whether the inclusion of back issues and articles (so-called backlist) in the new journal platform is possible must be clarified individually. The integration of a backlist is not part of the standard offer. please keep in mind that there will be expenses on the publisher's side. 
A backlist that has been made available and archived elsewhere can be referenced (e.g. kommunikation@gesellschaft).
In both cases, the standards and guidelines of the hosting offer must be met.

Please contact us in case of detailed questions.

How does the hosting service support establishing a new digital academic journal?

The hosting service supports the establishment of a new digital journal primarily through project management, competence transfer, the creation of the technical journal platform, and personal support.

Once the contract has been signed, we conduct a detailed information survey to support the smoothest possible technical and formal set-up of the journal. The progress of the project is continuously documented and accompanied by weekly virtual meetings. Basic information is communicated to journal editors in compact units (including OJS, OA publishing, Open Science, metadata requirements, persistent identifiers [DOI, ORCID, ROR], language concept).

For technical implementation, we use a contemporary journal template (HTML, multimedia, social media, metrics, citation display) including text templates for journal information (DE / EN) and provide an Open Science compliant article template. OJS manuals and an OJS sandbox system support learning and testing of the journal platform. Personal support is provided via e-mail and video telephony.

Nach Veröffentlichung der Zeitschrift unterstützen wir insbesondere bei der Indexierung, um die Sichtbarkeit und Reichweite der Zeitschrift zu maximieren.

Can a journal be published in multiple languages?

Yes - multilingual publication is possible in principle. Basically, when a journal is multilingual, a distinction must be made between (A) the user interface and (B) the submission and publication of articles. Multilingual journals must be implemented according to the current language concept of the hosting service.

Please contact us in case of detailed questions.

What file formats can be published?

The following content can be published in specific file formats on the journal platform. Multimedia files and research data can only be published as a supplement to an article and are not assigned their own digital object identifier (DOI). The article and the article-specific DOI are used for referencing in each case. The production of the articles in all formats is in the hands of the scientific editorial offices in accordance with the "scholar-led" approach of the hosting service.

Articles
Articles in text form with tables, figures and graphics contained therein can be published in *.PDF/A as well as in *.HTML file format (max. 10 MB).

Multimedia
Multimedia files can be published as supplements of an article in the following formats and can be played directly on the website of the digital magazines.
     audio = *.MP3 (128 kbit/s, max. 64 MB)
     video = *.MP4 (max. 64 MB)

Data
Research data can be published as a supplement of an article in *.TXT file format.

Does the open access publication service also take over editorial tasks?

What measures for visibility and reach of the magazine provides the hosting offer?

The visibility and reach of an academic journal is essentially based on four pillars:

1. Open Access
Open Access publication of all articles under CC BY 4.0 or CC BY-SA 4.0 license ensures unrestricted dissemination and re-use of the works. This contributes significantly to the journal's outreach.

2. Indexing
The automatic indexing of the journal and its articles in the databases of Google Scholar, Semantic Scholar, BASE, Crossref and the DNB contributes significantly to the visibility. Users can find the articles more easily during a search. Hosted journals are also supported in indexing in the Directory of Open Access Journals or other databases.

3. Search engine optimization
Search engine optimization of the journal website ensures optimal findability of the journal and articles in the most commonly used search engines.

4. Social media
Social media channels of journals, especially Twitter, are also suitable for increasing the visibility and reach of the journal. The respective channel can be linked on the journal's website in compliance with data protection regulations, whereby operation is the sole responsibility of the journal's editorial staff.

Readers of jounals also have the option of sharing articles in their own social media accounts in a privacy-compliant manner.

How can I check the reach and reuse of articles?

The reach and re-use of articles can be tracked via article metrics (views and downloads) as well as via the number of citations (incl. the display of citing articles). Hamburg University Press has developed two own plugins for the journal platform Open Journal Systems (OJS) for this purpose.

Article metrics
The number of article views, downloaded documents (e.g. article PDFs) and playback of multimedia files (audio/video) is displayed cumulatively. Files associated with the same article (e.g., versions in different languages or multimedia files) are counted individually.

Citations
The number of citations and the linking of citing articles is realized using information from the Crossref Cited-by and Semantic Scholar databases. Additionally, this information is linked at Google Scholar.