Table of Contents
Introduction
A journal website, in this case OJS, can grow because of factors from the involvement of various parties. These parties include authors, reviewers, editors, and others. Each party plays their respective roles in maintaining and improving the quality of a journal. Without the involvement of these parties, it would be difficult for a journal to progress and grow. Therefore, the involvement and cooperation of each party is necessary.
One way to show appreciation to the various parties involved is by giving them certificates of appreciation. These certificates are not only a form of appreciation from the Journal Manager to these parties, but they also have many benefits for the recipients, in this case authors, reviewers, and editors. The benefits of the certificate include data reporting, portfolio, administrative requirements, archiving, and many other purposes. In fact, this certificate is so important that even Elsevier provides guidelines and issues certificates, including for reviewers.
As a global journal publishing platform that is widely used, of course the OJS (Open Journal System) became the main focus of our explanation this time. Of course, OJS stores various types of data for authors, reviewers, editors, article data, and many other important data. Although OJS stores various user data such as names, article titles, ISSNs, and many other important data, unfortunately, OJS is currently unable to facilitate journal managers to publish certificates directly from OJS. Therefore, journal managers who want to create certificates must do so manually outside the OJS system.
From the information we have gathered, they create these certificates using various tools such as WPS Office, Canva, Photoshop, and the like. Is creating these certificates worth it? Of course not, if the certificates are made manually, it will take a long time. In addition, there is a risk of errors in writing, whether it be names or other details. Even if there are many contributors involved, it is very time-consuming to create a large number of certificates.
Is it really impossible to publish certificates directly in OJS? Don’t worry, we have a solution for this. In this article, we will explain the options you can use to speed up and streamline the certificate creation process. In fact, you can now easily create certificates directly in OJS. For more details, please read the following article in its entirety. We will explain in detail the various tools you can use to create certificates.
Why is the Certificate of Acceptance Important?
For some people, they will consider that a certificate of acceptance is only a sign that the article has been accepted for publication. However, behind all that, there are various other urgencies that make us realize that this certificate is very important. For example, this certificate of acceptance can be used as a sign that the article has gone through a review process, as administrative evidence for applying for funding, protecting the author’s copyright from predatory journals, and others. As a journal manager, you must be aware of these points. Here we explain why this certificate is so important.
1. As official proof of article status
The certificate of acceptance serves as valid proof from the journal manager to the author that their article has indeed been accepted for publication. This means that acceptance of the article is not only conveyed through text sent via email, but also through a certifiable certificate. In addition, this certificate can also be given to reviewers and editors as a form of appreciation for their involvement in the process of reviewing, evaluating, and publishing the article.
2. Administrative requirements
Administratively, this certificate is also a mandatory requirement for various institutions and universities for various purposes, such as graduation requirements, promotion, or as a report on the completion of a research project. In addition, this certificate is also used as valid and official proof that a person has completed a certain activity or process. This certificate also helps the relevant parties to ensure the validity of the required data and information. With the certificate, the administrative process can run clearly and measurably. Therefore, this certificate is very necessary in administrative aspects in various institutions and universities.
3. Enhancing journal credibility
Issuing certificates indirectly enhances journal credibility. This is because the existence of certificates indicates that the editorial process is well organized. In addition, the issuance of a well-managed certificate indicates that the journal has a professional administrative system. This also reflects that the journal has good service standards for various parties involved, such as authors, reviewers, and editors. Thus, these various aspects will have a positive impact on increasing the credibility of the journal in the public eye.
4. Providing certainty regarding the status of articles
This certificate will help various parties to track the status of their articles. For example, when an author receives this certificate of acceptance, it means that their article has been accepted for publication, so the author does not need to bother asking when their article will be published. This certificate is valid proof that their article has been accepted for publication. This certificate can even be used as valid evidence if, in the future, the author finds that the article scheduled for publication has not been published, making it easier for the author to send a reminder to the manager.
5. Archives and Documentation
This certificate can be used as an official archive or documentation of the journal’s publication history. From this collection of certificates, the journal manager can use them as evaluation or audit material to analyze research trends, the number of contributors, the percentage of articles accepted, visibility, and other aspects. This certificate also makes it easier for the journal manager to store data in a more organized and accessible manner. With more organized documentation, information related to publications can be quickly retrieved when needed in the future.
6. Increasing author confidence and satisfaction
With the publication of the certificate, authors feel that their contributions are formally appreciated. This will leave a lasting impression on authors, increasing their confidence in the journal. This will encourage them to submit again in the future. It is also possible that the author will encourage their colleagues to submit to this journal. This will have a very positive impact on the productivity and visibility of your journal.
How about it? Now we know how important certificates are for your journal. Therefore, from now on, as journal managers, we must pay close attention to the importance of publishing certificates. Moreover, we already know the urgency and positive impact of certificates for journals in the future, so this is a long-term investment for the credibility and visibility of your journal as well.
Tools for Creating Certificates
Basically, creating a certificate requires some design skills, which can be quite troublesome. However, did you know that there is now a simpler and faster way? You can even find tools to issue certificates directly in OJS. Don’t worry, in this section we will tell you about various tools to help you create certificates, including tools that can be integrated directly into OJS.
1. WPS Office
First, you can create certificates using WPS Office. WPS Office is a kind of office system package that is almost similar to Microsoft Office. In WPS Office, you can find tools that allow you to create certificates through the WPS docs feature.
Here is an example of using WPS Office to create a certificate:
Here are some points regarding the advantages and disadvantages of using WPS Office to create certificates.
Advantages:
1. Free, anyone can download and access it for free.
2. Easy to use, especially for those who are familiar with word processing tools such as Microsoft Word or similar programs.
Disadvantages:
1. Cannot be integrated into OJS.
2. Data entry for authors, such as name, article title, ISSN, and release date, still needs to be done manually
3. Prone to data entry errors or typos
4. Cannot be sent directly to the user’s email. You need to export it first, then send it to the user’s email
5. There is no dedicated link to access the certificate, so if the certificate file is lost, it is difficult to access the data
2. Adobe Photoshop
The next option is to create a certificate using Adobe Photoshop. This is a popular design application among graphic designers. Unfortunately, it may be quite difficult for ordinary people to use, as it takes more time to understand each of the tools available in this software. Here is a preview of Adobe Photoshop:
Here are some of the advantages and disadvantages of using this software to create certificates.
Advantages :
1. There are various tools for creating standard to advanced designs.
2.Projects can be saved in .PSD format so you can share the template with others if needed.
3. There are various export options such as .jpg, .png, .psd, and others.
Disadvantages :
1. It is paid software, so you need to pay a subscription fee to use it.
2. It cannot be integrated with OJS.
3. The design editing process is done manually, even from scratch.
4.Special skills and more time are needed to understand each function of the tools in Photoshop.
5. You cannot send certificates directly to the user’s email; you must first export them and then send them to the user’s email.
6. The input of author, editor, and reviewer data must be done manually, making it prone to data entry errors or typos.
3. Canva
Canva is a very popular design application today. Canva provides many templates for design needs such as templates for book covers, social media posts, certificates, and many other templates. Currently, Canva is widely used by various groups such as students, companies, freelancers, and others. Of course, Canva can be used as an alternative for creating research certificates. If you are curious, here is a preview of Canva:
Next, if you use Canva to create certificates (especially journal certificates related to acceptance authors, editors, and reviewers), what are the advantages and disadvantages? Here are the advantages and disadvantages of Canva.
Advantages:
1. Easy to adapt and use by anyone
2. There are various additional elements that you can use to enhance the design
3. No need to bother installing, because there is also a web version available
4. Various free design templates are available
Disadvantages:
1. Cannot be integrated into OJS.
2. Certificate data entry must be done manually, which is prone to data entry errors.
3. Some features are restricted and can only be accessed by subscribing to the Pro version plan.
4. Design results cannot be sent to users’ emails in bulk, so if you design certificates for authors, editors, and others, you must first export them and then send them separately to each contributor’s email
5. Data entry for authors, reviewers, and the like in the form of names, article titles, ISSN, release dates, and others still needs to be done manually
4. Certificate Generator Plugin
This is a tool that we highly recommend for OJS users. Why? Because the Certificate Generator Plugin is the only one OJS plugin that can be used to create certificates for authors, editors, and reviewers with an easy, fast, seamless, and very affordable. So you don’t have to bother spending time understanding various tools as we explained in the point above. By using this Certificate Generator, the process of creating and sending certificates in OJS becomes more seamless.
Here is a preview of the Certificate Generator:
#Preview 1 (dashboard display when generating certificates for authors, editors, and reviewers, with the option to send certificates directly to the relevant users)
#Preview 2 (content editing page or article content for Journal Managers, with options to add various variables that will be filled in automatically)
So what are the advantages and disadvantages of this Certificate Generator? Here are the details.
Advantages:
1. Can be integrated directly into OJS (this is the only one certificate creation plugin that can be integrated into OJS)
2. Just one click to generate articles
3. Certificates can be sent in bulk to the relevant users’ email addresses (authors, editors, reviewers) directly through OJS, so you don’t have to bother opening Gmail and the like.
4. Can be used to create certificates for authors, editors, and reviewers
5. The process of filling in data such as article title, contributor name, issue data, ISSN, and others occurs automatically. So you will be free from data entry errors
6. No special design skills are required and the dashboard is very easy to understand (moreover, complete documentation is also available)
7. A dedicated link is available, so users who receive certificates can access the certificate file via the link or download it in pdf format
8. There are many variables available for automatic data entry, such as article title, issue data, journal name, journal link, and other variables that you can select according to your OJS needs
9. Compatible with OJS versions 3.3 and above, such as 3.3, 3.4, and 3.5 (and always compatible with the latest OJS version if there is a new release)
Disadvantages:
1. Only compatible with OJS version 3.3 and above. (If you are still using version 3.2, 3.1, 3.0 or lower, you must first upgrade your OJS to at least version 3.3.)
2. You will need to pay a small fee (because a quota is required to generate the certificate, but you don’t need to worry because the cost is very affordable).
If you are interested in learning more about the Certificate Generator Plugin and need further information, you can contact us or visit this link: Certificate Generator Plugin
Conclusion
The involvement of authors, reviewers, editors, and other parties is an important factor in maintaining the quality and sustainability of a journal, so it is necessary to provide them with appropriate appreciation. One form of official recognition that is very useful for administrative, portfolio, archival, and documentation purposes is a certificate. A certificate of acceptance not only serves as a sign that an article has been accepted, but also as valid evidence that can be officially accounted for.
Until now, certificates have been created manually using various tools such as WPS Office, Photoshop, and Canva, which are considered inefficient because they are time-consuming, prone to errors, and not integrated with OJS. The manual process also requires journal managers to input data and send certificates separately, which requires considerable effort. Based on this, the Certificate Generator Plugin is presented as a more effective solution because it can be directly integrated with OJS. This plugin enables the creation and delivery of certificates in a more seamless, fast, effective, easy, and affordable manner. Thus, the use of the Certificate Generator Plugin can simplify work, especially for Journal Managers, in providing more professional services to all journal contributors.
