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[tutor_dashboard_password_reset]The scholarship and the editorial board are yours; the trap is that a new journal's only realistic options seem to be a manual, email-based submission mess that no serious reviewer will tolerate, or a generic templated website that looks the part but cannot run a real double-blind peer-review cycle, issue DOIs or pass DOAJ and AJOL scrutiny. Either way the journal stalls at the exact point submissions should be arriving, moving through review and reaching publication. Our team of engineers, editorial-systems specialists and designers installs and deploys the finished, working submission-to-publication system for you and hands it over live and receiving submissions.
A full implementation team · A milestone-based engagement · You own the finished journal system and every login
Standing up an online journal is not a single install, it is nine distinct pieces of engineering, editorial configuration and design work, and each one is the reason a journal runs real peer review rather than sitting as an empty shell. A bare platform download gives you a login and leaves you to configure the whole editorial workflow alone; AOSARS gives you a team that does the install, the workflow setup, the branding, the DOI and indexing readiness and the go-live for you, and hands back a working journal. Open any panel below to see what that means for your journal.
Your journal system is stood up by a real, hands-on team: platform engineers, editorial-systems specialists and designers who take your journal's scope and editorial board and build the live system. You are not handed a bare install and left to configure the editorial workflow alone.
Why this matters: The difference between a journal that runs real peer review and one that sits empty is the people behind it. A raw install cannot configure a double-blind workflow or wire up DOIs; a team can.
Across the service: the same implementation team carries your journal through all nine phases, from discovery to handover.
See the nine phasesWe run your journal through the same nine phases a scholarly platform deployment uses: discovery, install, editorial workflow, branding, submission-to-publication, reviewer and editor management, indexing and DOI, go-live and handover. Nothing is skipped and nothing is left to chance.
Why this matters: A journal that installs a platform and stops misses the very phases, the workflow, the review setup, the DOI and indexing, that make it credible. The full process is what produces a working submission-to-publication system.
The path: the nine phases are laid out in full further down the page, each one delivered for you.
See the nine phasesWe do the build between milestones, and at each one, the specification, the workflow, the branding, the indexing setup, the tested system, we show you the work and you approve it before we move on. You direct the outcome without doing the labour.
Why this matters: A done-for-you deployment should never take the journal out of your hands. Milestone approval keeps you in control of every decision while our team carries the work.
In control: you own every decision the journal rests on, and our team does the work behind each one.
See the nine phasesThe journal we hand back is properly configured, indexing-ready and genuinely editorially-workable: an OJS-class system with your sections live, a double-blind review cycle configured, Crossref DOIs registered and DOAJ, AJOL and Google Scholar indexing readiness in place. It is a working journal, not a bare install.
Why this matters: Editors, reviewers and indexing bodies judge a journal by whether it runs a real review cycle and issues DOIs. A configured, indexing-ready build is what turns a title into a credible journal.
The standard: every phase is delivered to the standard a scholarly platform deployment would apply to its own launch.
See the nine phasesYou retain the journal system, the platform and its administrator accounts are registered to your journal or institution, and every submission and every record flows to you. We are your implementation team, not your host, so the finished system and everything in it are yours.
Why this matters: A done-for-you deployment should hand you a system you own completely. Nothing about the platform, the data or the editorial record belongs to AOSARS.
Yours: you commission the work, you approve it, and you own the result outright.
See the nine phasesWe do not stop at an installed platform. Your journal is wired for the full editorial cycle, submission, double-blind review, copyedit, production and galley PDF, with DOIs and indexing, so scholars across Africa can submit, be reviewed and reach publication without leaving your journal.
Why this matters: A journal that cannot take a real submission through review earns no credibility. Real submission-to-publication reach is the difference between a live journal and an empty shell.
See the packages: Compare the three packages
See the nine phasesOur team installs and deploys your journal system to your brief, discovery, install, editorial workflow, branding, submission-to-publication, reviewer and editor management, indexing, DOI and metadata setup, go-live and handover, and you approve each stage. You own the finished journal system, and every submission and record that comes with it.
Your journal is built through the same nine phases a scholarly platform deployment runs, and our team carries out each one for you: discovery and requirements, install and configuration, editorial workflow and roles setup, branding and theming, submission-to-publication system, reviewer and editor management, indexing, DOI and metadata setup, deployment and go-live, and editor training and handover. You approve the work at each milestone. The path below moves on its own from 01 to 09; hover the card or use the pause button to take your time, or select any phase to jump.
The nine phases, 01 to 09
The engagement runs as milestones, not weekly sessions. Our team does the build work between milestones, and at each one you review what we have delivered and give your approval before we move on. Here is how a deployment runs from discovery to handover.
Every engagement opens with our team running structured discovery with your editorial board and administration and agreeing the journal it will become: the sections, the review model, the editorial roles, the indexing targets and the metadata standards. We write a requirements specification and a schedule.
You review and approve the specification before any build begins, so the whole engagement is costed, scheduled and agreed from the first day. Nothing starts until you have signed it off.
Between this milestone and the next, our team installs the OJS-class platform on LAMP hosting sized for your journal, configures the server, security, journal settings and section structure, and registers everything to your journal.
You are not installing servers or configuring the platform. Our team does the work and returns a stable, secured, configured system, which you approve before we go further.
Our editorial-systems specialists configure the submission, double-blind review, copyedit and production stages and define every editor, section editor, reviewer and copyeditor role, and our designers brand the whole journal to your identity.
You are not configuring review workflows or themes. Our team does the editorial and design work and returns a branded journal with a working editorial workflow, which you review and approve.
Our team wires the full submission-to-publication system, connects reviewer and editor management, registers Crossref DOIs and metadata, and sets up DOAJ, AJOL and Google Scholar indexing readiness.
You are not wiring DOIs or indexing. Our team does the work and returns a journal that takes a submission through review to publication with DOIs issued, which you approve.
Our team tests every submission and review path, the editorial decision workflow, the galley and PDF production and the DOI registration, and runs a check that the journal holds up under real editorial use, fixing every defect it finds.
You review the test results and give the single approval to go live. Nothing is opened to real submissions until you have signed it off.
Our team takes the journal live to a controlled plan, opens it to real submissions, trains your editors and administrators, and hands over the manual, the guides and the data-protection and AI-use policy.
We set the journal live to your approval, then hand over the working, documented, governed system and its administration pack. You approve the launch; we deliver the journal.
Plays through on its own. Hover to pause, or click any milestone to jump.
A view of one engagement. Our team does the build between milestones; at each milestone you review the work and approve it before we proceed.
Every engagement runs the same way against the nine phases, so you always know the stage you are at and what you are approving next.
Our team builds every part of the journal to a scholarly standard and hands it over. These are the deliverables you receive, built for you and approved by you at each milestone.
An OJS-class scholarly system installed, secured and configured to your sections and editorial roles, registered to your journal.
Your logo, colours and imagery across the journal, with clear home, about, submission and current-issue pages that work on phones and low-bandwidth links.
Submission, double-blind review, copyedit, production and galley PDF stages configured end to end, so a paper moves from submission to publication without leaving the system.
Editor, section editor, reviewer and copyeditor roles defined, a reviewer database set up, and invitation, assignment and decision workflows wired in.
Crossref DOI registration and metadata wired in, with DOAJ, AJOL and Google Scholar indexing readiness set up so the journal can be found and cited.
Editor and administrator training, a written manual and video guides, and a data-protection and AI-use policy governing submissions and reviewer data.
All three put the AOSARS implementation team, engineers, editorial-systems specialists and designers, behind your journal through the nine-phase deployment. They differ in how far we carry it: Launch Essentials stands up an installed, branded, configured journal live and receiving submissions with a core editorial workflow; Editorial Standard adds the full submission-to-publication workflow, reviewer and editor management and Crossref DOI and indexing readiness; and Portfolio Premium adds a multi-journal portfolio, back-issue migration and full DOAJ and AJOL indexing submission with training and a governed handover. You commission the package, then we begin. Most journals choose Editorial Standard.
You walk away with the whole journal system, a full-featured, open-standards platform, installed, configured and live at your own web address, receiving real submissions through a working submission, review, copyediting and production process, with your submission, galley and correspondence templates developed for you. You run editorial decisions and peer review; the process that carries them is built for you.
Everything in Live Journal, plus your full brand identity applied to the front end, citable identifiers issued automatically at publication, policy frameworks developed with you and embedded into the journal site, advisory on indexing and the general requirements each index sets, indexing-readiness work with applications prepared and submitted, strategic marketing infrastructure to help the journal attract submissions and readers, author identifier (ORCID) integration, and a multicurrency and mobile-money option for any submission or article fees. Applications are prepared and submitted on your behalf; acceptance rests with each index.
Everything in Branded, Policy-Framed and Indexing-Prepared, plus a multi-journal portfolio under one managed front end, your existing back-issues migrated in, six months maintenance, and editor training and capacity building on running the journal day to day, closing with a governed handover. Back-issue migration covers up to three volumes by default; more are arranged.
Two low-pressure ways to explore before you commission: ask us to call you back on WhatsApp at a time that suits you, or arrange a call to talk it through and review your journal and your goals together. Neither commits you to anything.
Leave your details and the time that suits you. We call you on WhatsApp, so it costs you nothing.
Pick a slot yourself on our calendar and we meet by video. We can talk it through and, if you like, review your work together.
The questions journal editors and institutions ask most before commissioning. If yours is not here, ask before you pay.
We answer every enquiry personally, usually within a day, before you commit to anything.
It runs as a milestone-based engagement against the nine AOSARS deployment phases, not a fixed number of sessions. Launch Essentials, from discovery through a configured, branded journal live and receiving submissions, typically takes two to three weeks. Editorial Standard adds one to two weeks for the full double-blind review workflow, Crossref DOI registration and indexing readiness. Portfolio Premium runs six to eight weeks for a multi-journal portfolio with back-issue migration, full indexing submission and a governed handover. We agree the schedule in the specification before any work starts, and you approve each milestone as we reach it.
Only a laptop or desktop with a reliable internet connection and the mandate to commission the journal. You do not need your scope, editorial board list, branding or hosting ready in advance. Once the engagement is confirmed, our team works out your journal title, scope, aims, sections and editorial board with you, gathers your branding, confirms a domain and hosting arrangement, brings in any existing back-issue archive and ISSN details where already assigned, and agrees a data-protection agreement during a structured onboarding phase. From there our engineers and specialists do the build.
You do, entirely. You hold the system and its administrator accounts, the platform is registered in your journal's name, and every submission, review and record is held by you. We are your implementation team, not your host, so nothing about the system, the platform or the editorial record belongs to AOSARS. You own the finished journal and everything in it.
At go-live we train your editors and administrators to manage submissions, run the review cycle, make editorial decisions, release issues and read the reports, and hand over a written administration manual, video guides and the data-protection and AI-use policy that governs submissions and reviewer data. We agree a support and maintenance handover so your own staff can run the journal independently from the first day.
Each build phase includes a review milestone where you see the work, the specification, the branding, the editorial workflow, the indexing setup, the tested system, and give your changes before we move on. Each milestone carries a defined revision round so your feedback is worked in, and the specification sets out exactly what each phase and package includes. Because you approve at every stage, nothing goes live until you are satisfied with it.
Yes. From Editorial Standard upward we register your Crossref DOI prefix, wire DOI issuing and metadata into the publication workflow, and set the journal up to meet DOAJ, AJOL and Google Scholar indexing requirements. Portfolio Premium adds full DOAJ and AJOL indexing submission handled for you. We configure the metadata standards, test the DOI registration before go-live, and hand over the indexing accounts so your journal can be found and cited.
This is a done-for-you service. Our team of engineers, editorial-systems specialists and designers does the install, the configuration, the branding, the workflow setup, the DOI and indexing work, the testing and the deployment for you, and hands back a live, working journal. You brief us and approve each milestone; you do not build or configure the system yourself. The dividing line is simple: here, the labour stays with us.
Our team uses professional tools, including AI assistance, only as an aid our engineers and specialists direct and verify, never as a substitute for real technical and editorial judgement. Any AI-assisted configuration is documented and reviewed, and submissions, reviewer identities and data are handled under a written data-protection agreement. The credibility and indexing standing of the finished journal is what the whole service is built to protect.
Commission your package today and hand the whole deployment, discovery, install, editorial workflow, branding, submission-to-publication, DOI and indexing setup, testing and go-live, to a team that builds the finished journal for you.
A full implementation team. A milestone-based engagement. You own the finished journal system. Pay in your local currency on mobile money, card or bank transfer.
