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A slow journal website costs more than you might realise. Beyond frustrated visitors clicking away, slow performance damages search rankings, undermines indexing efforts, and creates lasting negative impressions among the authors and readers you're trying to attract. Understanding what causes slowdowns is the first step toward fixing them.
How Speed Affects Author Decisions #
Authors comparing journals make judgments quickly. When a website takes too long to load, assumptions follow: the journal is under-resourced, poorly managed, or technologically behind. These impressions form before authors even evaluate scope, impact factor, or editorial quality.
The submission process amplifies speed concerns. Authors uploading manuscripts encounter timeouts. Slow form submissions create uncertainty—did it work? Should I try again? Will I duplicate my submission? Each frustration point increases the chance authors will choose a competitor next time.
Reviewers face similar issues. Slow access to manuscripts, lagging reviewer interfaces, and timeout errors discourage timely reviews. Editorial efficiency suffers when every system interaction involves waiting.
Common Causes of Slow Journal Websites #
Inadequate Hosting Resources #
Many journals operate on minimal hosting plans that worked when traffic was light. As content grows and traffic increases, shared hosting becomes a bottleneck. Insufficient RAM causes database queries to slow. Limited CPU affects page generation. Inadequate bandwidth creates congestion during peak access times.
The cheapest hosting option is rarely appropriate for active journals. Processing submission uploads, generating article pages, and serving PDFs requires more resources than basic websites.
Unoptimised Images #
Images uploaded directly from cameras or design software often contain far more data than needed for web display. A 5MB image that displays at 600 pixels wide wastes bandwidth and processing time. When multiple such images appear on a page, delays compound significantly.
Cover images, author photos, figures, and decorative graphics all contribute to this problem. Without optimization processes in place, every uploaded image potentially degrades performance.
Database Bloat #
Journal databases accumulate data over years: submissions, revisions, correspondence, user accounts, logs, and more. Without maintenance, databases grow unwieldy. Queries that once completed instantly now take seconds as they search through accumulated data.
Old OJS installations particularly suffer from database bloat. Tables grow large, indexes become fragmented, and legacy data from years of operation slows every interaction.
Outdated Software #
Older OJS versions lacked performance optimizations present in current releases. Running outdated software means missing years of efficiency improvements, caching enhancements, and code optimizations. What runs slowly on old versions might perform dramatically better on current releases.
Additionally, outdated PHP versions—the language powering OJS—perform significantly worse than current releases. Hosting environments running PHP 7.x instead of 8.x sacrifice substantial performance for no good reason.
Is Your Journal Website Frustrating Users?
Performance problems often have straightforward solutions. A professional assessment identifies what's causing slowdowns and how to fix them.
Lack of Caching #
Without caching, servers regenerate pages from scratch for every visitor. Database queries run repeatedly. PHP processes identical requests again and again. Proper caching stores generated content so subsequent requests retrieve ready-made pages instead of rebuilding them.
OJS supports various caching mechanisms, but they require configuration. Default installations often run without caching, handling every request as if it were unique. This works for low-traffic sites but becomes untenable as traffic grows.
Plugin Overload #
Plugins extend OJS functionality but add processing overhead. Each active plugin runs code on page loads. Some plugins make external requests, query databases, or perform complex operations. Poorly coded plugins can single-handedly cripple performance.
Journals accumulate plugins over time—installed for specific purposes, then forgotten but left active. Auditing plugin necessity and disabling unused plugins often yields meaningful performance improvements.
External Dependencies #
Sites loading fonts, scripts, or widgets from external servers depend on those servers' performance. If a Google Font server responds slowly, your pages wait. If an analytics script stalls, page rendering pauses. Each external dependency introduces potential delay points beyond your control.
Measuring Your Site's Speed #
Before addressing speed issues, establish baselines:
Google PageSpeed Insights: Analyses both mobile and desktop performance, identifying specific issues and providing improvement suggestions.
GTmetrix: Provides detailed waterfall charts showing exactly what loads and how long each element takes.
WebPageTest: Offers advanced testing from multiple locations and connection speeds.
Run these tests on key pages: homepage, article pages, submission interface, and search results. Different pages may have different problems.
Speed's Impact on Search Rankings #
Google explicitly includes page speed in ranking algorithms. The Core Web Vitals metrics—measuring loading performance, interactivity, and visual stability—directly influence search placement. Slow sites rank lower than fast competitors, reducing organic traffic and discoverability.
For journals competing for visibility, search ranking matters. Authors searching for publication venues encounter results influenced by website performance. Slow sites appear lower, reducing submission inquiries.
Speed and Indexing Services #
Google Scholar and other academic indexers crawl journal websites to discover and index content. When crawlers encounter slow responses, they may reduce crawl frequency or skip pages entirely. Content that takes too long to serve might not get indexed at all.
During indexing evaluations, slow sites create negative impressions. Evaluators accessing your site experience the same delays as regular users—potentially influencing subjective quality assessments.
The Mobile Speed Challenge #
Mobile connections often have higher latency and lower bandwidth than desktop connections. Problems barely noticeable on fast office networks become severe on mobile devices. Since mobile usage continues growing, mobile speed optimization deserves particular attention.
Additionally, Google predominantly uses mobile page versions for indexing and ranking. Even if your desktop site performs adequately, poor mobile performance affects overall search visibility.
Quick Wins vs. Deeper Solutions #
Some speed improvements yield quick results:
Image Compression: Optimizing existing images provides immediate benefit without changing anything else.
Enabling Caching: Proper cache configuration can dramatically reduce server load and response times.
Disabling Unused Plugins: Removing unnecessary code paths speeds up every page load.
Other improvements require more substantial work:
Hosting Upgrades: Moving to appropriate hosting infrastructure addresses fundamental resource constraints.
OJS Updates: Upgrading to current versions brings performance improvements accumulated over multiple release cycles.
Database Optimization: Cleaning and tuning databases requires careful work but resolves underlying bloat issues.
Performance as Ongoing Practice #
Speed optimization isn't a one-time project but an ongoing practice. As content grows, traffic patterns change, and software evolves, performance requires regular attention. Monitoring tools can alert you to degradation before users notice. Periodic audits identify emerging issues before they become serious.
Journals committed to quality extend that commitment to technical performance. A fast, responsive website signals professionalism and respect for users' time—values that align with broader editorial quality commitments.
