How to Optimize OJS for Google Scholar Indexing

For academic journals using Open Journal Systems (OJS), appearing in Google Scholar is not just a benefit—it is a necessity. However, simply installing OJS 3.x is not enough to guarantee indexing. You must ensure your metadata is structured correctly for Google’s crawlers.

1. Enable the Google Scholar Plugin

The first step is often overlooked. Navigate to Settings > Website > Plugins and ensure the Google Scholar indexing plugin is active. This plugin adds the necessary <meta> tags (like citation_title and citation_author) to your article landing pages.

2. Structure Your Metadata (High-Impact)

Google Scholar relies on specific bibliographic metadata. Ensure every article includes:

• Abstracts: Must be plain text (no complex HTML).
• Keywords: Separated by semicolons.
• Full-text PDF: Must be accessible and not behind a broken link.

3. XML Sitemap Configuration

A clean sitemap tells Google exactly where your articles are. At SatWebview, we customize the .htaccess file to ensure sitemaps are served without errors and include only published issues, preventing "soft 404" errors that hurt ranking.

4. Mobile-First Responsiveness

In 2026, Google uses mobile-first indexing even for scholarly content. If your OJS theme is not responsive, your ranking will drop. We recommend using a clean, Bootstrap-based OJS theme to ensure readability on all devices.