Dergi Yönetim Sistemlerinde Sunulan Hizmetlerin Sistem Kullanıcıları Açısından Değerlendirilmesi: DergiPark Analizi

Abstract

Since information systems are designed for the online medium, many business processes can be managed independently of time and space. Through these advantages of information systems, the number of users has also grown, and business processes in many sectors have begun to be monitored and managed via information systems. Various studies have been conducted accordingly for the effective use of information systems. Usability studies have also been conducted on information systems using various methods in this regard. These studies mainly focus on the pragmatic aspects to utilize the usability of the systems. Nowadays, the concept of user experience has surfaced in the design of systems and hedonic features are also utilized besides pragmatic features. In the literature, it is clear that user experience evaluations have been carried out for information systems used in different sectors. The present study focuses on journal management systems, which are widely used in academic publishing, through a platform that is extensively popular in Türkiye. DergiPark, a journal management platform developed by TÜBİTAK (Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye) ULAKBİM (Turkish National Academic Network and Information Center), is a web-based information system that provides services such as managing journal management processes for academic journals and hosting journals online. There are some problems with the use of this platform in terms of the functioning of a journal management system. DergiPark needs to be analyzed in terms of users' experiences in order to identify such problems and develop solutions. Based on this perspective, the study analyzes DergiPark through qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques. In the study employing the descriptive method, the features of DergiPark's journal management system were analyzed in line with the opinions of journal experts who tried the system and DergiPark experts who participate in the implementation of system developments. Within this framework, the evaluations of the authorities representing 390 different journals on the use of DergiPark were analyzed with the questionnaire developed based on the studies on user experience in the literature. Furthermore, data obtained from interviews with experienced journal experts are also included to support the data collected through the questionnaire. Additionally, the processes experienced in terms of the services provided to journals were analyzed through interviews with DergiPark experts. In conclusion, it was found that there are problems with DergiPark's system updates and interface and that deficiencies exist in the presentation and access to the information needed in the publication evaluation processes. Analyzed in general, it was found that DergiPark has deficiencies in terms of being a comprehensible and attractive system. The findings, which are supported by the data collected from the questionnaire and interviews, reveal that the lack of ease of use and the confusing organization of the menus are the negative aspects of DergiPark, whereas the fast problem-solving and the reputation of the platform provided to the journals are the positive aspects of DergiPark. The questionnaire and the interviews differed on the issues of meeting the expectations of the users in process management and their concerns about the possibility that their data will be lost in the system. The interviews indicated that there were some problems regarding these matters. There is a need to organize the information needed on the screens of the DergiPark platform in line with the suggestions and to implement improvements in the interface sections. Conducting user experience studies for authors and reviewers can also be beneficial for the improvement of DergiPark.