Scholarly Publishing

The Ball State University Libraries offer a range of services to develop, launch, maintain, and preserve faculty and student‐led journals:

• Depending on your needs, the Libraries offer software that can support author submission, peer review, file management, and web publishing. This software is available at no cost to the journal.
• Guidance on developing journal copyright policies and author agreements that support broad dissemination of journal content.
• Assistance with logo design and journal website setup.
• Indexing in Google Scholar.
• Assignment of ISSNs and DOIs (Digital Object Identifiers) to provide permanent links to journal content.
• ORCID iD confirmation for authors
• Long‐term preservation. We can ensure your journal and scholarly content is safely managed over the coming years and even decades, even if the journal stops publication.

What you should have or plan to develop with us:

• Clear journal scope and well‐defined mission
• Editorial staff and board that reflects the authorship and audience for the journal, including a faculty advisor for student journals
• Transparent author guidelines and peer review policies
• Access and copyright policies that allow all content to be made freely available online no later than 12 months after initial publication (preferably immediately)

The Libraries use Open Journal Systems (OJS) to manage the journal production and hosting workflow. Using OJS, editorial staff can accept submissions, assign peer reviewers, track activity, publish, and distribute finalized issues. Editors have full control over the workflow and can customize as needed.

The Libraries will assist in all aspects of journal setup:

• Developing a production workflow
• Creating publication templates
• Advising on copyright and Creative Commons matters
• Advise on best practices
• Apply for an online ISSN
• Register DOIs for published content

To get started, please review the Open Access Publishing Application Form.