Upgrade OJS 3.4 to 3.5: New Features and Long-Term Support

OJS 3.4 brought big changes, from the new submission wizard to DOI management. But it was never made a long-term support release. OJS 3.5 is, and it adds tools your editors will use every day.

What your journal gets with OJS 3.5

For editors

• Redesigned dashboard and workflow pages, with saved views of the submissions list, a summary panel, and review progress shown for each submission.
• An editorial history for each submission, and each editor’s workload shown when you assign one.
• A minimum number of reviews can be required for a submission.

For authors and journal managers

• Invitations: journal managers invite people to take a role, and they accept by email.
• ORCID integration built into OJS, and several affiliations per author, linked to the ROR registry of research organisations.
• Authors can suggest reviewers when they submit, if the journal turns this on.
• An Editorial Masthead page listing the people in the roles you choose.
• Highlights on the journal homepage, each with an image and a button.
• Basic JATS XML support, and ALTCHA as a spam check for forms.

For the journal’s future

• Long-term support: PKP designated OJS 3.5.0-5 (June 2026) a long-term support release, so OJS 3.5 is the version PKP commits to maintaining for longer.

More detail: new features in OJS 3.4 and 3.5.

Why you should upgrade from OJS 3.4

• 3.4 isn’t long-term support. PKP made OJS 3.3 and 3.5 its long-term support releases, the ones it commits to maintaining for longer. 3.4 is a regular release.
• Security fixes only protect current builds. The issues below were fixed in later 3.4 builds; a journal on an older build is still exposed.

Issue	What it allowed	Fixed in
CVE-2024-56525	A user with the journal editor role could create a super-admin role and insert a backdoor plugin by uploading a crafted XML file	3.4.0-8
CVE-2025-13469	Cross-site scripting through the manual payment instructions setting	3.4.0-10

The latest 3.4 build is 3.4.0-11 (18 September 2026). See PKP’s 3.4 release notes.

Is your journal on a 3.4 build older than 3.4.0-11? It’s missing published security fixes, and before 3.4.0-8 it’s also open to the editor issue above. Talk to us about bringing it up to date straight away.

How the upgrade works with us

You and your editors stay focused on the journal; we take care of the upgrade. Your part is just two steps: send us your journal address, and approve the quote. We do the rest:

1. Tell us your journal address. Use the calculator on our upgrade page, the chat or a free call.
2. Free check and a clear quote. We look at your journal and tell you the price and the timeline.
3. Backup and test upgrade. We back everything up and upgrade a private copy, then check it.
4. Live upgrade. At a quiet time agreed with you; the journal is usually offline for under 2 hours.
5. Handover and free fixes. You check the journal; anything we missed is fixed free for 14 days.

Why choose a professional for your OJS upgrade

An OJS upgrade changes the database, the files and the code at the same time. Even between close versions like 3.4 and 3.5, themes and plugins need versions made for the new release. When something goes wrong, it’s usually one of these:

• An upgrade that stops halfway can leave the journal offline, with a database that neither the old nor the new version will open.
• No complete, tested backup means there is no way back. The database, the files folder (where every article PDF lives) and the code all have to be saved.
• Themes and plugins made for older versions can break pages or stop the site from loading.
• The server often needs a newer PHP version first. Changing it on a live server can take the journal down before the upgrade even starts.
• Quiet damage: emails that stop sending, DOI deposits that fail, or indexing settings that change. These can go unnoticed for weeks.

Our OJS upgrade service is built around these risks. Here’s what it includes:

• A free check of your journal before you pay: version, server, theme, plugins and any custom code.
• One clear price for your upgrade, agreed in writing before we start.
• A full backup of the database, the files folder and the code.
• The upgrade done and tested on a private copy first: submissions, review, emails, DOIs and the public pages.
• Your theme and plugins checked, and updated or replaced where they need it.
• The live upgrade at a quiet time, with the journal usually offline for under 2 hours.
• 14 days of free fixes after the upgrade.

Price and time

Our OJS upgrade service takes OJS 3.4 to 3.5 from ₹3,000 + GST in India, or US$80 elsewhere, for one journal, usually in 3 to 5 working days. More journals or installations? The calculator on the upgrade page shows your price in under a minute.

These are our prices as of October 2026. Prices can change over time: the calculator on our upgrade page always shows the current price, and the price in your quote is the one you pay.

Feature lists come from PKP’s release notes for OJS 3.4 and 3.5; security details from the public CVE records and PKP’s release notes; PHP dates from the PHP project. Checked in October 2026. New issues are found over time. This guide is independent and not endorsed by PKP.

Questions

Is OJS 3.4 a long-term support release?

No. OJS 3.3 and 3.5 are long-term support releases; 3.4 is a regular release.

Is it worth upgrading from 3.4 if everything works?

Yes. OJS 3.5 is the long-term support release, and it adds redesigned dashboard and workflow pages, invitations, ORCID built in and reviewer suggestions.

Will our theme and plugins work on OJS 3.5?

Plugins and themes need versions made for OJS 3.5. Many have them; older or custom ones may need updating or replacing. We check each one in the free check and tell you before you pay.

Will our articles, users and DOIs be kept?

Yes. Articles, issues, files, users and DOIs move across. We check them on the test copy before the live upgrade, and again afterwards.

How long is the journal offline?

Usually under 2 hours, at a quiet time agreed with you. The rest of the work happens on a private copy while your journal stays online.

Can we upgrade OJS ourselves?

You can, if someone in your team knows OJS, PHP and databases well. The risk is real, though: an upgrade that fails halfway can take the journal offline, and without a full, tested backup there is no way back. Our upgrade service includes the backup, a test run on a private copy and 14 days of free fixes.