PKP Sprint and CRAFT-OA Tech Event: Advancing Open Access Publishing in Turin

Written by Lisa Müller & Maxim Kupreyev.

The city of Turin, Italy, recently played host to two CRAFT-OA events dedicated to the future of scholarly publishing: a PKP Sprint (October 8–9, 2024) and the CRAFT-OA Tech Event (October 10-11, 2024). They brought together experts and innovators in the field of Open Access publishing. Here’s a recap of both events.

PKP Sprint: Building the Future of Open-Source Scholarly Tools

The PKP Sprint, hosted by the CRAFT-OA project, gathered 47 participants from diverse professional backgrounds including journal managers, librarians, user interface experts, and programmers.

This hands-on workshop focused on enhancing Public Knowledge Project (PKP) open-source publishing platforms, including Open Journal Systems (OJS), Open Monograph Press (OMP), and Open Preprint Systems (OPS). The discussions were focused on – but not limited to – the following key topics, suggested by the audience: 

• Day 1 Highlights:
  • Typesetting/XML/HTML: Streamlining workflows for improved formatting and publishing outputs.
  • GDPR Compliance: Ensuring that user data is handled responsibly within PKP systems.
  • Open Peer Review: Exploring transparent review processes and tools (continued on Day 2).
  • OMP Enhancements: Improving Open Monograph Press functionality (continued on Day 2).
• Day 2 Highlights:
  • Awesome Linking: Creating innovative ways to connect resources and content within publishing systems.
  • Non-Euclidean Workflow: Rethinking traditional publishing processes for greater flexibility and inclusivity.
  • Plugins: Developing and refining tools to expand PKP software capabilities.
  • Multilingual Support: Enhancing support for diverse languages and metadata standards.

As OJS was chosen to underpin the Open Research Europe (ORE), an Open Access publishing venue for European Commission-funded research, the event featured discussions on how this would impact the evolution of the software. The Sprint provided a platform for brainstorming and working on practical projects as well as fostering direct community involvement in PKP software development. Participants tackled both technical and non-technical tasks, from building plugins to addressing usability and compliance challenges. 

CRAFT-OA Tech Event: Advancing Technology for Diamond Open Access

Immediately following the PKP Sprint, the CRAFT-OA Tech Event brought together 52 participants from the Diamond Open Access community, institutional publishers, and technical professionals.

This two-day gathering featured engaging presentations, hands-on workshops and discussions on innovative technologies shaping the future of Diamond OA publishing.

Workshop Highlights

1. Diamond Discovery Hub (DDH): A registry of Diamond OA journals in the European Research Area aimed at increasing their visibility.
2. Upskilling Curriculum and Training Materials for Technical Standards: A modular framework for technical training covering the diverse aspects of publishing workflow.
3. OJS Diamond Plugins: Tools to enhance journal discoverability and interoperability, and to facilitate automatic connections to aggregators and indexing services such as OpenAIRE and EOSC.
4. OJS Core Features: A session on OJS core feature enhancements, which include GDPR-compliance, support for multilingual content and metadata, and interaction with controlled vocabularies. 
5. Indexes Knowledge Base: Presentation of the synthetic documentation about academic publications indexing services, aggregators and their requirements.
6. Authentication and Authorization Infrastructure (AAI): A session on Single Sign-On services to streamline access management.
7. Living Handbook for Diamond OA: A comprehensive resource on standards, tools, and training materials for the Diamond OA community.

Participant Insights

Attendees shared their key takeaways from the Tech Event

“I was amazed by the amount of knowledge shared. As a newcomer, it was both exciting and a bit overwhelming.”

“There are ways to achieve difficult things through the community. It is important to contribute to the community and not only benefit from their achievements.”

“New plugin development and updates offer exciting opportunities for the future of Diamond publishing.”

“The JATS converter website and DISCO plugin were eye-opening for me.”

“Sustainability issues are a common challenge we all face.”

Most Impactful Topics

• The JATS Converter emerged as a highlight, with attendees praising its practical implications for their workflows.
• Plugins for OJS and more technical discussions were identified as areas focusing on which could be beneficial for the future events.

Looking Ahead

As the CRAFT-OA project continues its mission to enhance open-access publishing, the lessons from Turin will shape the future events. In June 2025 the University of Coimbra (Portugal) will host the 2nd Summer School for journal editors, building on the success of the 1st summer school in Telč, Czech republic. In October 2025 the CRAFT-OA Final Event will present the results of the three intensive project years in Göttingen, Germany. 

From fostering collaboration to driving technological innovation, the PKP Sprint and Tech Event underscored the importance of community-driven efforts in advancing scholarly communication. We extend our gratitude to all participants, speakers, and organizers for their contributions. Stay tuned for more updates and opportunities to engage in shaping the future of Open Access!