Workflow Management Systems for Open Access University Publishers
Producing an open access publication is a complex process that requires the consideration of aspects of project, business and workflow management. The predecessor project OA-HVerlag described these workflows and processes in abstract terms; following on this, the OA-STRUKTKOMM project derived the data flows within IT infrastructures. Building on the results of these predecessor projects, the joint OA-WFMS project, in consultation with stakeholders from the fields of scholarship and institutional publishing, aims to analyze the business processes and workflows of university and other scholarly institutional publishers in the production of open access publications and on this basis to develop requirements for suitable workflow management systems (WFMS). The introduction of a software solution to support these complex and multifaceted workflows can enable OA university presses to achieve urgently needed higher, more effective, more predictable and, above all, faster production flows, thereby promoting the broader acceptance, impact and dissemination of Open Access.
