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This README describes the version for OJS 3.5.0.x. The plugin adds two features for reviewers:
| Feature | When | What the reviewer receives |
|---|---|---|
| Calendar attachment | Review invitation (including a subsequent round) or manual reminder sent by an editor | An invite.ics file attached to the OJS email itself |
| Weekly reminder | Once a week, from Monday 00:00 | One email per journal listing pending reviews |
Both features are enabled, per journal, by enabling the plugin. The weekly reminder can be turned off in the plugin's Settings, in Website > Plugins > Installed Plugins, without affecting the calendar attachment. The weekly reminder's day and time cannot be changed.
Example of the email, sent in the journal's primary language with the journal's primary contact as sender:
Subject: Pending Reviews Reminder
Dear Maria Silva,
The manuscripts below are awaiting your review.
Submission title A - Due date: 2026-11-25
Submission title B - Due date: 2026-12-02This is an automated email. If you have already submitted your review for these manuscripts, please disregard this email.
- Each title links to the review page, which asks the reviewer to sign in. The email has no calendar attachment.
- The email text comes from the plugin and is not listed in the journal's email templates, so it cannot be edited there.
- It lists reviews in the latest round of submissions still active in the editorial workflow, for which the reviewer has been notified and that are not completed, declined, or cancelled. This includes unanswered invitations and overdue reviews.
- Reviewers without pending reviews and disabled accounts receive no email. Reviewers with pending reviews in several journals receive one email from each journal.
- Each sending is recorded in the submission's Activity Log and shown in the review's History, in a block separate from OJS reminders. The review's own reminder date is not changed.
The weekly reminder is independent of OJS automatic reminders, which keep working as configured. A reviewer may receive both.
Sending relies on the OJS 3.5 task scheduler. Each journal receives the reminder once a week, on the first scheduler run from Monday 00:00 on, in the time zone set in time_zone in config.inc.php. Configure the cron job recommended by OJS on the server:
* * * * * cd /path/to/ojs && php lib/pkp/tools/scheduler.php run >> /dev/null 2>&1
Without cron, OJS uses its built-in runner (task_runner in config.inc.php), which only runs at the end of a site request. In that case the reminder is sent on the first site request from Monday on, so on sites with few visits it may arrive later in the week. After the plugin is enabled or updated, the first reminder is sent from the next Monday.
The invite.ics file contains an event titled "Review deadline: ()", with a link to the review page in its description. It is an all-day event on the review completion deadline.
Importing the event is optional and does not accept the invitation. The plugin sets no alarms and does not update the event if the deadline changes. The attachment is not added to OJS automatic overdue reminders.
Important
The OJS 3.5 version is not yet available in the Plugin Gallery.
- Download the
.tar.gzpackage for OJS 3.5 from the Releases page. - In Website > Plugins > Installed Plugins, use Upload a New Plugin to upload the package.
- Enable Review Reminder in each journal that needs it.
- Make sure OJS can send emails and that the scheduler is configured.
Optionally, enable One-click Reviewer Access in Workflow > Review > Setup. The attachment then uses the same one-click link as the OJS email, so it opens the review without signing in. Links in the weekly reminder always ask the reviewer to sign in.
Disabling the plugin in a journal stops adding the attachment to future emails and removes the journal from future weekly reminders. Reviews, deadlines, and already imported events are not changed.
Sponsored by the South African Medical Association. Developed by Lepidus Tecnologia.
This plugin is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0
Copyright (c) 2024-2026 Lepidus Tecnologia