Subscription Reports

OJS provides subscription managers with tools to review active subscriptions, identify subscriptions nearing expiry, and export subscription data for reporting or external processing.

Accessing the Subscription List

The primary reporting tool is the subscriptions list itself, which supports filtering and sorting.

1. Log in as Subscription Manager or Journal Manager
2. Click Subscriptions in the left navigation
3. Choose Individual Subscriptions or Institutional Subscriptions

The list shows all subscription records with their current status, type, start date, and end date.

Filtering Subscriptions

Both the individual and institutional subscription lists include filter controls at the top of the page.

Available Filters

Filter	Options	Use case
Subscription Type	Any defined type	View all subscribers on a specific tier (e.g. all Institutional – 1 Year)
Status	Active, Awaiting Payment, Expired	Identify unpaid or lapsed subscriptions
Start Date	Date range	Find subscriptions that started within a period
End Date / Expiry	Date range	Identify subscriptions expiring soon
Search	Name, email, institution name	Find a specific subscriber or institution

Filtering by Status

To view only active subscriptions:

1. Select Active from the Status dropdown
2. Click Search

To view subscriptions awaiting payment:

1. Select Awaiting Manual Payment or Awaiting Online Payment
2. Click Search

Identifying Expiring Subscriptions

Proactive renewal outreach depends on identifying subscriptions before they lapse.

Finding Subscriptions Expiring Within 30 Days

1. Go to Individual Subscriptions or Institutional Subscriptions
2. In the End Date filter, set the date range from today to 30 days from now
3. Click Search
4. The list will show all subscriptions expiring in that window

Scheduling renewal reminders

Review the expiring subscriptions list weekly or monthly as part of a routine subscription management workflow. Use the Note field on each record to track when renewal outreach was sent.

Automated Renewal Reminders

OJS can send automated reminder emails before subscriptions expire. To configure:

1. Go to Subscriptions → Subscription Policies
2. Enable Send reminder to subscribers before subscription expires
3. Set the number of days before expiry to trigger the reminder
4. Click Save

Reminder setting	Effect
30 days	Reminder sent one month before expiry
14 days	Reminder sent two weeks before expiry
0 (disabled)	No automated reminders

Subscription Statistics Summary

OJS does not include a dedicated subscription analytics dashboard, but the following counts can be derived from the filtered list view:

Statistic	How to obtain
Total active individual subscriptions	Filter by Status = Active on Individual Subscriptions list; count results
Total active institutional subscriptions	Filter by Status = Active on Institutional Subscriptions list; count results
Subscriptions by type	Filter by each Subscription Type in turn; count results
Expired subscriptions	Filter by Status = Expired; count results
Subscriptions added this year	Filter by Start Date from Jan 1 to today; count results

No built-in subscription dashboard

As of OJS 3.5, there is no aggregated subscription statistics dashboard. The subscription lists with filters are the primary reporting tool. For advanced analytics, export the data (see below) and process it in a spreadsheet.

Exporting Subscription Data

OJS does not include a native CSV or spreadsheet export button for subscription data directly from the UI. The following options are available:

Option 1: Manual Copy from List View

For small datasets:

1. Filter the subscription list to the desired subset
2. Use your browser's print or save function to capture the visible table
3. Paste into a spreadsheet for further processing

Option 2: Database Export (Administrator)

For complete, structured exports, a Site Administrator can run a database query against the subscriptions, subscription_types, and users tables:

SELECT u.email, u.first_name, u.last_name,
       st.name AS subscription_type,
       s.date_start, s.date_end, s.status
FROM subscriptions s
JOIN users u ON s.user_id = u.user_id
JOIN subscription_types st ON s.type_id = st.type_id
WHERE s.journal_id = <your_journal_id>
ORDER BY s.date_end ASC;

Database access required

This query requires direct database access (MySQL or PostgreSQL), which is typically only available to the hosting administrator. Provide this query to your system administrator to run.

Option 3: PKP Export Plugins

Check the Plugin Gallery and the PKP Community Forum for community-developed export plugins that may provide CSV export functionality for your OJS version.

Understanding Subscription Access Logs

OJS records reader access events in its usage statistics system. These logs can indicate whether institutional IP ranges are being used and how frequently.

Accessing Usage Statistics

1. Go to Statistics → Usage Statistics (if enabled)
2. Filter by article or issue to see access counts
3. Geographic or IP-level breakdowns are available depending on your statistics plugin configuration

Correlating access with subscriptions

If an institutional subscriber reports access problems, compare the dates and frequency of access attempts in usage statistics against the subscription period and IP ranges on record. Gaps may indicate misconfigured IP ranges or an expired subscription.

Privacy Considerations

OJS usage statistics can be configured to anonymise or aggregate IP data in compliance with privacy regulations (GDPR, etc.). Review your journal's privacy policy and statistics configuration under Settings → Website → Privacy.

Setting	Privacy implication
Full IP logging	Individual visits traceable by IP; may require consent
Anonymised IP (remove last octet)	Less precise geolocation; GDPR-safer
Aggregate only	No individual visit tracking

Subscription Policies Reference

The Subscriptions → Subscription Policies page contains several settings relevant to reporting and lifecycle management:

Policy	Description
Subscription Manager contact	Email address shown on subscription enquiries
Subscription information	Public text displayed on the subscription page
Open Access delay	Embargo period (months) for Delayed Open Access
Subscription expiry reminders	Days before expiry to send automated email reminders
Renewal reminders	Frequency and timing of renewal outreach emails

Further Reading

• Learning OJS – Subscriptions — PKP documentation on subscription management and reporting
• PKP Community Forum — Community help for subscription statistics and data export