Reference checks inside the OJS workflow
A generic plugin for Open Journal Systems 3.3, 3.4 and 3.5. It adds a “ReferenceVerify” tab to every submission's workflow: for each file the editor chooses a reference check, an in-text citation check or a consolidated report; can send a summary to the editors and the full report to the author as OJS discussions; and gets reviewer suggestions from the same tab.
Download the package for your OJS version; the .tar.gz is uploaded as is, no need to unpack it. Permanent links (always the latest version): referenceVerify-ojs35-latest.tar.gz · referenceVerify-ojs-latest.tar.gz
OJS 3.4.x / 3.5.x package: PHP 8.0 or later (tested on 8.1 and 8.3; OJS 3.5.0.4, 3.5.0.5 and 3.4.0.11) · OJS 3.3.x package: PHP 7.4–8.1 · both need cURL and outbound HTTPS
Uploading a plugin package in OJS requires the Site Administrator role; a journal manager cannot upload it. The 3.3 package does not install on 3.4/3.5, and the 3.4/3.5 package does not install on 3.3.
You can see your version in OJS under Administration → System Information.
How it works
The check runs in the editor's browser, not in OJS; OJS only hands the file over as an encrypted, single-use transfer.
What it does
Workflow tab
- Visible to journal managers, editors, production editors, assigned section editors and the site administrator. Authors, reviewers and assistants (copyeditor, layout editor, proofreader) do not see it.
- In OJS 3.3 and 3.4 it is a separate workflow tab; in OJS 3.5, open the submission from the editorial dashboard and find “ReferenceVerify” at the bottom of the workflow's left-hand menu.
- The submission's manuscript files are listed: submission, review round, revisions, copyediting and production files. Reviewer attachments, discussion files and galley images are not listed.
Checking a file
- Word (.docx, .doc), PDF and RTF files get three buttons (up to 50 MB): Reference check, In-text citations and Consolidated report. Unsupported types are labelled as such.
- The consolidated report does both: every reference is verified, including those never cited; in-text citations and the reference list are cross-checked in both directions (cited but missing from the list, listed but never cited, year mismatches); and citation claims are checked.
- The site opens in a new tab with the file loaded and the chosen report.
Writing the report summary to OJS
- When the report is ready the site shows “Send summary to OJS”; nothing is sent unless the editor clicks it.
- Only counts and the five most important issues are sent; no manuscript text, references or personal data.
- In OJS, “Get results” in the tab adds the summary to the submission as a discussion with the assigned editors only; authors are never added.
- Opening the workflow sends nothing to ReferenceVerify; summaries are added only when you click “Get results”. In OJS 3.5 the number of waiting summaries appears when the ReferenceVerify panel is opened.
Sharing the report with the author
- If the editor chooses, “Share with the author” below the report sends the full status of every reference (verified, to correct or check, not checked), suggested corrections and the in-text citation consistency.
- The editor first sees the exact text the author will receive and ticks a confirmation; nothing reaches the author unless the editor sends it.
- “Get results” adds it as a discussion that also includes the authors, who get an OJS notification. Editor summaries stay with the editors.
Reviewer suggestions
- “Show reviewer suggestions” lists candidates from the title, abstract and author names: ORCID, institution, works on the topic.
- Conflicts are flagged: co-authored with an author, same institution, retracted work. Nobody is assigned automatically.
- The site account linked to the key needs editor tools; at most 30 searches per hour per journal.
Privacy
- The file goes from your OJS server to ours over HTTPS, with the journal's plugin key, as an encrypted single-use transfer.
- The transfer is deleted when it is first opened; if it is never opened it is deleted automatically after 1 hour at most.
- The check runs in the editor's browser; references are compared with international and national open scholarly records. The manuscript is not stored.
- Summaries and author reports sent to OJS are kept encrypted and deleted once written to OJS, or after 7 days at most. Only the key of the journal that sent the file can fetch them.
Install
Download the package
Download the .tar.gz file with the button above; do not unpack it, it is uploaded as is.
Upload it to OJS
As site administrator: Settings → Website → Plugins → Upload A New Plugin → the downloaded file. To update an installed version, use Upgrade in the plugin's row; your settings are kept.
Enable it
Under Installed Plugins → Generic Plugins, tick “ReferenceVerify”.
Enter the key
Click Settings next to the plugin: paste the key you were given (it starts with rvojs_). There are no other settings: the report type is chosen per file.
There is no language setting: the site opens in each editor's OJS interface language.
How to get a key
Keys are issued per journal. Write to us through the contact form, or from Messages once signed in, with: journal name, OJS address, contact email and the site account email of the editor who will use reviewer suggestions.
- The editor needs a member account on the site; editor tools are enabled on that account for reviewer suggestions.
- The key is sent to you once and we keep only its hash. If it is lost, the old key is revoked and a new one issued.