Abstract

This thesis presents the redesign and the implementation of an online journal editorial workflow management system. The previous version of the journal management system has the following problems: 1. It only supported the submission and review processes which are not enough to cover a complete editorial workflow for a journal; 2. It is neither adequate for user requirements nor it provides enough functions. Hence we are proving a new journal management system with the following features: 1. Complete the entire editorial workflow with the paper proofreading and publication processes; 2. Functions to help journal editors to manage the processes of academic journal. Our new design is based on Environment Based Design (EBD), an innovative design methodology. We used EBD to analyze the problems of the system and clarify the editorial workflow and user requirements, and to generate appropriate solutions. Our results show significant improvements based on user studies. The new system has already been used as an online submission system of an international scientific journal. We can continue to evolve the system with new feature like automated management easily because of the flexibility of the design.