Top 10 Best Publication Management Software of 2026

ScholarOne Manuscripts is a comprehensive web-based platform by Clarivate designed for managing the full lifecycle of scholarly publishing, from author submissions to peer review, editorial decisions, and production tracking. It supports thousands of journals worldwide with customizable workflows, automated routing, and advanced analytics. The system excels in handling high submission volumes while ensuring compliance with industry standards like ORCID and Crossref integrations.

Editorial Manager, from Aries Systems, is a comprehensive web-based platform for managing the full editorial workflow in scholarly publishing, from manuscript submission and peer review to production tracking. It supports configurable workflows, automated notifications, and integration with tools like ORCID and CrossRef for metadata handling. Widely adopted by over 10,000 journals globally, it excels in high-volume environments requiring robust scalability and compliance with publishing standards.

Open Journal Systems (OJS) is a free, open-source software platform developed by the Public Knowledge Project (PKP) for managing and publishing scholarly journals online. It provides a comprehensive workflow covering article submission, peer review, editing, production, indexing, and dissemination. Designed primarily for academic and non-profit publishers, OJS supports multi-journal hosting, reader tools like usage statistics, and integration with OAI-PMH for metadata harvesting.

eJournalPress is a web-based platform providing end-to-end manuscript management for scholarly journals, including submission tracking, peer review coordination, editorial workflows, and production tools. It supports authors, editors, reviewers, and publishers in streamlining the publication process with customizable templates and automated notifications. The system also offers features like XML/HTML export, plagiarism checks, and analytics for journal metrics.

BenchPress (benchpress.io) is an open-source manuscript submission and peer-review platform designed for academic journals and scholarly publishers. It manages the full editorial workflow, from author submissions and reviewer assignments to decision tracking and production handoff. Developed by eLife, it emphasizes modern usability, customization, and integrations with tools like ORCID and Crossref.

Submittable is a robust submission management platform tailored for publications, literary magazines, grants, and awards programs to handle incoming manuscripts, artwork, and applications efficiently. It provides tools for customizable intake forms, blind peer reviews, collaborative feedback, and automated workflows to streamline the selection process. With integrations for email, Slack, and payment gateways, it supports organizations in managing high volumes of submissions while maintaining editorial integrity.

Janeway (janeway.systems) is an open-source journal management and publishing platform built on Django, designed specifically for scholarly publishers to handle the full editorial workflow. It supports submissions, peer review, production, typesetting, and online publishing for single or multiple journals. With a focus on modularity and extensibility, it provides a modern alternative to legacy systems like OJS, emphasizing clean code and customization for academic use.

ConfTool is a web-based conference management system tailored for academic publication workflows, enabling organizers to handle paper submissions, reviewer assignments, blind review processes, and proceedings compilation. It supports customizable tracks, discussion forums for program committees, and automated notifications throughout the process. Primarily used for conferences, it provides end-to-end tools for managing publication pipelines in scholarly events.

Morressier is a specialized platform for managing conference publications, handling abstract submissions, peer review, session scheduling, and transforming posters and presentations into interactive, citable online publications. It enables organizers to create discoverable content with DOIs, multimedia integration, and engagement analytics. Primarily tailored for academic and scientific events, it streamlines the publication workflow from submission to long-term archiving.

OpenConf is a web-based conference and publication management platform designed specifically for academic and professional events, handling everything from abstract and paper submissions to peer review and program scheduling. It supports blind reviews, automated reviewer assignments with conflict detection, customizable workflows, and generates conference proceedings and schedules. With a proven track record serving over 10,000 conferences worldwide, it provides secure, scalable solutions for organizers managing publication pipelines.