In most cases the platform's technical infrastructure is maintained and updated in-house.
Table 25. Maintaining and updating a platform’s technical infrastructure
| Infrastructure | # platforms |
|---|---|
| In-house by an IT department/personnel | 12 |
| In-house by a dedicated publishing department (e.g. the library) | 5 |
| In-house across different departments | 3 |
| Partially outsourced | 3 |
| Mainly outsourced | 5 |
| Fully outsourced | 4 |
“We have been working with 2 external tech contractors for the past 15 years. Only Free and Open Source software is used.” is one of the other responses.
In most cases (16) the platforms support all publishing workflows online. One platform does not support publishing workflows as it is primarily an aggregator. The remaining platforms (three) support some publishing workflows online.
OJS is the most commonly used software. It is used by 18 platforms. One platform uses DSpace. Other solutions include Atypon and theSciELO e-publishing methodology (open source).
Most platforms (20) assign unique persistent identifiers, with Crossref DOI being the most popular. It is used by 18 platforms, 10 of which also use ORCIDs.
Other responses include:
- It is up to individual journals to add other persistent identifiers. ORCID is highly recommended in the assessment framework.
- ROR.
The majority (12) of the platforms provide long term preservation options. Institutional platforms prevail among those who don’t.