OJS Journal Setup and Customization

I'm looking for a skilled developer to support the setup and installation of my international, peer-reviewed journal on Open Journal Systems (OJS). In addition to the initial setup, I require customization across several areas:

- Theme Design: Create a visually appealing and user-friendly interface that aligns with our journal's branding.
- Plugin Development: Develop and integrate necessary plugins to enhance the journal's functionality.
- Workflow Modification:** Modify existing workflows­­­ to suit our editorial and submission processes.

Additional Features: I also need to incorporate enhanced search functionality and advanced user management to improve the user experience.

The ideal candidate should have:
- Extensive experience with OJS, especially in setup and customization.
- Strong skills in theme design and plugin development.
- Familiarity with advanced search and user management systems.
- Ability to modify workflows to fit specific journal needs.

Please provide examples

Project Title:
Journal of Advanced Homoeopathic Studies (JAHS) – Official Website

Purpose:
To create a responsive, attractive, and fully functional academic journal website with complete article submission, peer review, editorial management, and public access system. Built to support indexing by Scopus, DOAJ, and PubMed.

CORE REQUIREMENTS
Tech Stack Recommendation:
Frontend: React.js / Next.js / Vue.js / Bootstrap 5 / Tailwind CSS

Backend: Node.js (Express) / PHP (Laravel) / Python (Django)

Database: PostgreSQL / MySQL

CMS Alternative: Open Journal Systems (OJS 3.4+)

Hosting: Compatible with cPanel / Linux-based shared hosting

FRONTEND FEATURES
1. Homepage
Journal logo, name, ISSN (when assigned)

Hero section with:

CTA buttons: “Submit Article”, “View Latest Issue”

Featured latest articles carousel

“About the Journal” short intro

“Editor’s Desk” intro

Announcements section (e.g., Call for Papers)

Indexing badge logos (Scopus, DOAJ, etc.)

Footer with: Contact info, Quick links, Social icons, Copyright

2. Navigation Pages
About the Journal- Aims and scope, Publication ethics, Frequency (quarterly), Open access policy, Editorial Board (Name, designation, affiliation)

Option to sort by country or section

Archives- Browse by Volume, Issue, View past articles (title, author, abstract, PDF)

Current Issue- Show the latest issue

Display article titles, authors, download links

Author Guidelines- Submission requirements, Ethics & plagiarism policy, Templates for article formatting

Contact Us
Secure contact form (with reCAPTCHA), Google Map embed, Journal email and phone

Advanced Search- Search by keyword, author, title, year. Filter by article type

BACKEND FEATURES
Accessible to Journal Manager, Editor-in-Chief, Section Editors, Authors, and Reviewers with role-based login.

1. Editorial Workflow
Manuscript submission (multi-file)

Review assignments

Review status tracker

Decision letters (Accept / Revise / Reject)

Copyediting phase

Final layout/galley upload

Assign articles to issue

Publish to frontend

2. Author Panel
Register/login

Submit articles with metadata (abstract, keywords, authors)

Upload cover letter, ethics certificate, manuscript

View editorial decision and submit revisions

3. Reviewer Panel
Accept/reject review invitations

Access full article

Submit review comments, confidential notes

Upload annotated files

4. Admin/Journal Manager Panel
Set roles: Admin, Editor, Section Editor, Reviewer, Author

Customize website settings (logo, theme, homepage content)

Configure peer-review workflow steps and emails

Manage email templates

Enable/disable article types (original, review, case report, etc.)

Article metrics (views, downloads)

Configure DOI / ORCID / XML exports

5. Statistics Module
Submissions per month/year

Review durations

Acceptance/rejection rates

Article views/downloads

Exportable reports (CSV)

Optional Integrations
ORCID Login & profile sync

CrossRef DOI registration

Google Scholar indexing metadata

Plagiarism detection (Turnitin / iThenticate API)

Altmetric badges

Newsletter/email automation (Mailchimp)

XML export for DOAJ/PubMed Central

VISUAL & BRANDING
Academic look with modern UI (dark blue/gold/white palette)

Responsive & mobile-friendly

Clean typography (e.g., Lora/Georgia for body, Roboto for UI)

Sticky header and scroll-to-top button