OJS 3.6 — Planned Features & Roadmap
Status: 🚧 In active development
Target release: 2025–2026 (subject to change)
Branch: main on github.com/pkp/ojs
Pre-release content
Information on this page is based on the PKP public roadmap, GitHub issues, and forum announcements. Features may change, be delayed, or be cancelled before the final OJS 3.6 release.
Overview
OJS 3.6 is the next planned minor release in the 3.x series. It builds on the stability of the OJS 3.5.0.4 LTS candidate and introduces new editorial features, infrastructure modernisation, and improved accessibility and internationalisation.
Planned Features
Editorial & Workflow
| Feature | Description | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Structured peer review | Reviewers can complete structured review forms with Likert scales, multi-select, and file attachments | 🚧 In development |
| Reviewer recommender system | AI-assisted reviewer suggestion based on submission keywords and reviewer history | 🔬 Proposed |
| Revision tracking | Inline diff view between submission versions during copyediting | 🔬 Proposed |
| Desk rejection templates | Pre-configured out-of-scope / desk rejection decision templates | 🔬 Proposed |
| Editorial board portal | Dedicated dashboard for editorial board members | 🔬 Proposed |
Author & Submission
| Feature | Description | Status |
|---|---|---|
| ORCID auto-fill | Auto-populate author metadata from ORCID record at submission | 🚧 In development |
| ROR affiliation lookup | Research Organization Registry integration for institution name standardisation | ✅ Available in 3.5 (beta) |
| Preprint linking | Link a submission to a preprint server deposit (e.g., bioRxiv, SSRN) | 🔬 Proposed |
| Co-author invitation | Authors can invite co-authors to contribute metadata directly | 🔬 Proposed |
Technical & Infrastructure
| Feature | Description | Status |
|---|---|---|
| PHP 8.3+ support | Full support and testing for PHP 8.3 | 🚧 In progress |
| PostgreSQL as default | Roadmap to make PostgreSQL the recommended database | 🔬 Discussed |
| REST API v2 | Expanded and versioned REST API for all core resources | 🚧 In progress |
| Job queue improvements | Horizontal scaling support for job workers | 🔬 Proposed |
| Composer modernisation | Updated dependency management, remove legacy bundled libraries | 🚧 In progress |
| Vue.js UI components | Continued migration from Smarty/jQuery to Vue.js UI library | 🚧 Ongoing |
Accessibility & i18n
| Feature | Description | Status |
|---|---|---|
| WCAG 2.2 compliance | Full audit and fixes for WCAG 2.2 AA | 🚧 In progress |
| RTL language improvements | Better right-to-left language rendering for Arabic, Farsi, Hebrew | 🚧 In progress |
| Locale switcher on reader pages | Allow readers to switch locale without leaving an article page | 🔬 Proposed |
Publishing & Discoverability
| Feature | Description | Status |
|---|---|---|
| JATS XML galley improvements | Better JATS XML rendering and validation in the submission workflow | 🚧 In development |
| Schema.org structured data | Richer JSON-LD metadata on article pages for Google Scholar | 🔬 Proposed |
| DOAJ direct deposit | Push metadata directly to DOAJ without manual export | 🔬 Proposed |
| CrossRef Event Data | Track citation events from CrossRef Event Data API | 🔬 Proposed |
Breaking Changes Expected in OJS 3.6
Plan ahead
If you maintain custom plugins or themes, monitor these planned breaking changes and begin adaptation before OJS 3.6 ships.
- PHP 8.0 support dropped — PHP 8.1 will be the new minimum (PHP 8.2+ recommended)
- MySQL 5.7 support dropped — MySQL 8.0 minimum (already required in 3.5, enforced strictly in 3.6)
- Legacy hook signatures — several deprecated hooks from OJS 3.3 era will be removed
- REST API v1 endpoint changes — some v1 endpoints are being restructured for v2
How to Follow OJS 3.6 Development
- GitHub Milestones: https://github.com/pkp/ojs/milestones
- PKP Roadmap: https://github.com/orgs/pkp/projects/32
- PKP Blog: https://pkp.sfu.ca/blog/
- PKP Community Forum: https://forum.pkp.sfu.ca/
Testing OJS 3.6 Before Release
You can test the development version of OJS 3.6 on a non-production server. See OJS Development / Nightly for instructions.
Status Glossary
| Badge | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ✅ Released / Available | Feature is live in the current stable OJS |
| 🚧 In development | Feature is actively being coded in the main branch |
| 🔬 Proposed | Feature is on the roadmap but development has not started |
| ❌ Cancelled | Feature was previously proposed but removed from the roadmap |