English | Português Brasileiro

Full Journal Transfer

This plugin transfers the journal data covered by the explicit contracts described below.

Compatibility

The latest release of this plugin is compatible with the following PKP applications:

• OJS 3.4.0

Note: Packages can only be transferred between installations on the same OJS 3.4.0 version line.

Requirements

• PHP >= 8.0.2
• php-mbstring
• php-intl
• php-xml

Plugin Download

To download the plugin, go to the Releases page and download the tar.gz package of the latest release compatible with your website.

Installation

1. Enter the administration area of ​​your OJS website through the Dashboard.
2. Navigate to Settings> Website> Plugins> Upload a new plugin.
3. Under Upload file select the file fullJournalTransfer.tar.gz.
4. Click Save and the plugin will be installed on your website.

Instructions for use

Command line

Export

Export a journal to a tar.gz file containing the xml and file directory by executing the command in the application's root directory:

php tools/importExport.php FullJournalImportExportPlugin export [targzFileName] [journal_path]

Import

To import a journal from tar.gz file, execute the command in the application's root directory:

php tools/importExport.php FullJournalImportExportPlugin import [targzFileName] [user_name]

Obs.: Journals containing substantial data will consume a large memory resources. In such instances, employ the PHP parameter -d memory_limit=-1 during import/export operations.

Troubleshooting

This plugin uses features from the users and the native import/export plugin. If the execution does not work as expected, test with the PKP import/export plugins to resolve any problems before proceeding with this one.

Side Effects

Some expected behaviors when importing the journal:

• All database IDs will be modified, invalidating external references.
• The imported journal is initially disabled.
• A second import of the same journal path is rejected without duplicating content.
• Export archives contain author competing interests and must be handled as sensitive data.
• The plugin does not include historical editorial events or sent-email records from event_log, event_log_settings, email_log, or email_log_users. Events created in the destination during import belong to the import operation and do not reproduce the source history.
• Historical submission modification times are preserved. After import, rebuild the search index and clear the application caches according to the destination site's operational procedure. OAI consumers should perform a full harvest after switching to the destination journal instead of relying only on an incremental date window.
• The selected theme and its declared options are transferred when the theme plugin code is installed in the destination OJS. When it is unavailable, the imported journal uses the default theme with its default options.
• Institutional metrics require a valid ROR identifier; records without a stable ROR are rejected.

Journal locales and settings

The UI, form, and submission locale lists are transferred independently. During import, each list is intersected with the locales enabled for the destination OJS site, preserving the source order. Import stops before the journal is created when the primary locale is unavailable or when no form or submission locale remains. Validation errors in this early CLI/filter path are deterministic English messages because plugin locale catalogs are not loaded at that point.

To migrate all localized metadata, install and enable every locale used by the source journal in the destination OJS site before import. The CLI warns which unavailable locales will be filtered from the import.

The following journal settings are transferred:

• Identity and contact: name, acronym, abbreviation, about, description, editorialTeam, authorInformation, librarianInformation, readerInformation, privacyStatement, openAccessPolicy, contactAffiliation, contactEmail, contactName, contactPhone, mailingAddress, country, onlineIssn, printIssn, publisherInstitution, publisherUrl, supportEmail, supportName, supportPhone, enableOai, itemsPerPage, and numPageLinks.
• DOI: enableDois, enabledDoiTypes, doiPrefix, doiSuffixType, doiIssueSuffixPattern, doiPublicationSuffixPattern, doiRepresentationSuffixPattern, doiVersioning, and doiCreationTime.
• License and copyright: copyrightYearBasis, copyrightHolderType, copyrightHolderOther, copyrightNotice, licenseTerms, licenseUrl, and rights.
• Submission and metadata: disableSubmissions, authorGuidelines, beginSubmissionHelp, contributorsHelp, detailsHelp, forTheEditorsHelp, uploadFilesHelp, submissionChecklist, submissionAcknowledgement, copySubmissionAckAddress, copySubmissionAckPrimaryContact, submitWithCategories, agencies, citations, competingInterests, coverage, dataAvailability, disciplines, keywords, languages, subjects, and requireAuthorCompetingInterests.
• Review and editorial workflow: defaultReviewMode, numWeeksPerResponse, numWeeksPerReview, restrictReviewerFileAccess, reviewerAccessKeysEnabled, reviewGuidelines, reviewHelp, numDaysBeforeInviteReminder, numDaysBeforeSubmitReminder, rateReviewerOnQuality, and notifyAllAuthors.
• Publication: publishingMode for open-access or no-publication journals. Subscription publishing is rejected before journal creation because subscription records are not transferred.

Localized settings are limited to the accepted locale union, and the submission checklist is limited to the effective form locales. Null values remain absent. Assigned issue, publication, and representation DOIs are preserved through Native XML. Automatic DOI deposits, agency account data, credentials, tokens, and private deposit-plugin settings are not transferred, and importing a package never schedules a DOI deposit.

Imported/Exported Journal Content

Using PKP native import/export:

• Active users and their user roles; disabled users are included only when referenced by the workflow and are transferred without user roles
• Articles
• Issues

Added:

• Journal data
• Author preferred public names and competing interests
• Submission historical dates and issue publication timestamps
• Incomplete submission wizard progress
• Selected theme and theme options
• Navigation Menus
• Sections
• Review Forms
• Review Assignments
• Review form responses, preserving null and empty values independently
• Review Rounds
• Review Files
• Reviewer Files
• Reviewer Comments
• Revision Files
• Stage Assignments
• Editor Decisions
• Discussions
• Metrics

Running Tests

Unit Tests

To execute the unit tests, run the following command from root of the PKP Application directory:

lib/pkp/lib/vendor/bin/phpunit -c lib/pkp/tests/phpunit.xml --no-coverage plugins/importexport/fullJournalTransfer/tests

Round trip

php plugins/importexport/fullJournalTransfer/tests/round-trip/run \
  --fixture plugins/importexport/fullJournalTransfer/tests/round-trip/fixture-ojs-3.4.0.10-v1.tar.gz \
  --expected plugins/importexport/fullJournalTransfer/tests/round-trip/expected-ojs-3.4.0.10-v1.json \
  --app-root [ojs_root] \
  --files-dir [files_dir] \
  --public-dir [public_dir] \
  --database [database_name] \
  --mysql-command [mysql_command] \
  --inventory-command plugins/importexport/fullJournalTransfer/tests/round-trip/inventory \
  --apply

Credits

This plugin was idealized and sponsored by the Brazilian Institute of Information in Science and Technology (IBICT) for OJS version 2.x.

Funding for version 3.3 comes from the Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp) and Federal University of Recôncavo da Bahia (UFRB).

Developed by Lepidus Tecnologia.

License

This plugin is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0

Copyright (c) 2014-2026 Lepidus Tecnologia