At JetStyle, we are advocates of technological progress as a means to optimize business processes, reduce costs, and provide users with a unique experience. Our portfolio consists of numerous projects involving the development of customized digital solutions.
One such project is our collaboration with the International Research Journal, an academic service that assists authors in publishing their academic papers and gaining more visibility within the academic community. Read the story below:
Scholarly publishing worldwide is undergoing a transition towards more sustainable practices: either embrace the online realm or face financial setbacks. Modernizing and digitalizing the publishing workflow has become more crucial than ever.
For students, postgraduates, and PhDs, academic publishing is the most accessible way to enhance their citation index and establish their authority among peers.
Both these categories can greatly benefit from an advanced editing and publishing tool. However, this task is tricky due to the complex nature of publishing standards. Academic papers must adhere to rules and requirements governing every element; it is essential to follow them diligently to secure publication. An ideal scientific tool would incorporate features such as citation management, advanced editing tools (including seamless usage of tables and formulas), peer review capabilities, and integration with external platforms.
Our client, the International Research Journal (IRJ), needed a solution to eliminate manual work and attract more relevant users. A robust publishing service would promote IRJ within the community and increase the number of monthly publications.
The company publishes several scientific journals, all integrated with the most popular scientific databases. IRJ collaborates with postgraduates, university professors, students, individuals with academic degrees, and professionals in the sphere of culture and education, and helps them publish their scientific articles.
We started with a deep research of the current workflow, during which we identified the spots that needed optimization. Prior to implementation, all new features were subject to testing. The core features of the future service were the following:
In more detail:
It starts with the registration form, which encompasses a wide range of fields and includes identification forms that integrate with academic databases. After registration, users access their user profiles. Depending on their role in the publication process—writer, reviewer, editor, translator, proofreader—the user gains access to relevant functions.
We established a robust editor that allows users to fill in all sections of their future article. The type of publication determines the fields the users fill in and the media types they use – tables, images, formulas, etc. We also introduced a scaling tool for viewing images.
Anyone who has ever edited references for a scholarly article knows the pain it can cause. Our tool offers 10 different types of reference entries and automatically generates them in accordance with international scientific guidelines.
The published issue is converted into XML files that can be further uploaded to citation databases.
An edited article is converted into PDF, DOCX, ODF or other doc types in accordance with the academic publishing requirements. All sections of the article (tables, images, formulas, reference lists) are formatted according to the standards.
We have also implemented an automatic DOI (Digital Object Identifier) generation for each article, facilitating its distribution across academic citation databases. This service was developed by IRJ, and we integrated it into the entire service pipeline.
Another feature we are proud of is the logging of all changes made to the material. We also ensure that multi-user editing is impossible to prevent conflicts of versions.
We now conduct weekly calls with the client's team to optimize each process and achieve maximum efficiency. Our main goal is to upgrade the service, making it simple and more convenient.
The development process began around 2018 with prototyping and concept development. In May 2022, we released the first journal, and three months later, IRJ was launched. Initially, the journal published issues once every three months. Now they release monthly issues with more papers each time. The International Research Journal plans to further expand by developing current journals and launching new ones.
The service development process was complicated, and our efforts paid off: we have received highly positive feedback from customers. Authors appreciate the convenience of the text editor, reporting that its ease of use motivates them to publish their work.
We strongly believe that the success of a project depends on the quality of collaboration between the client’s and developer’s team. IRJ’s team has been incredibly active and present in the process of communication. From the beginning of our collaboration, they demonstrated deep involvement in the development process, which helped us build a strong and trusting relationship. We established a dynamic and regular development flow.
If your business requires a sophisticated technological product, we can assist you with that. It all starts with a free discovery call, during which you can outline your business goals, and together we can explore potential digital solutions to address them.
