Additional workflow before submission?

[J]

Hi all,

we need an additional workflow in which authors can present a publication idea to their superiors and get it approved. This additional workflow should happen before the submission process, so instead of [Submission -> Workflow] we need [Additional Workflow -> Submission -> Workflow].

At first glance we would try to implement this functionality as a custom submission step, but are unsure if the assignment of others users during the submission process would work. Or is there an extension available that already would support our use case?

Regards
Johannes

[Tim Donohue]

Hi Johannes,

This is not supported in DSpace out-of-the-box and may be complex to implement.  In DSpace terminology, deposit *always* begins with a "WorkspaceItem" object (which is an active submission). That object by default sits in a single user's "workspace" until submitted...at which point it becomes a "WorkflowItem".  That is where the approval process is triggered...and once approved, it becomes an (archived) "Item".

So, the flow is generally:

WorkspaceItem <-> WorkflowItem -> (Archived) Item

As implied by the double arrows between WorkspaceItem and WorkflowItem, a submission may move *between* those states one or more times prior to becoming "accepted" and archived.

Because of this nature, you may want to consider whether small tweaks to your internal process could allow you to use DSpace mostly "as-is".  One (perhaps simplified) idea might be:

1. Author creates a publication idea as a (partially filled out) Submission (i.e. a new WorkspaceItem).  They submit this new idea (making it a WorkflowItem), perhaps even to a "Submission Ideas" Collection tailored for this initial approval.
2. Superior reviews the idea (now a WorkflowItem), and provide feedback by "rejecting" the submission (you could rename the reject button as needed to "provide feedback").  (This turns the WorkflowItem back into a WorkspaceItem & sends it back to the Author for changes or enhancements, along with the superior's feedback.)
3. Author then looks at feedback and either cancels/deletes the Submission (if not a good idea) or enhances it (if it was approved).  They potentially resubmit for full approval (either to the same Collection, or maybe different one, depending on needs)

I realize that flow is slightly odd, but it'd allow you to do a WorkspaceItem (draft idea) -> WorkflowItem (initial approval) -> WorkspaceItem (enhanced) -> WorkflowItem (final approval).   It may also be easier to customize the DSpace UI to support this flow of data, as it's a more "natural" flow for the DSpace object model & submission/workflow process. You also can customize submission flows per Collection, so you could have one flow for the "draft idea" (in a private, draft Collection, perhaps with limited metadata fields required and an uploaded file optional) and another for the "final idea/paper" (in a public/private final Collection, perhaps with more metadata fields required & an uploaded file required).

Just something to consider here.  You also could do a heavier customization here to try to add Workflow Approval *first*. But, it seems (to me) like there will need to be something to approve (which implies to me that you may need a WorkspaceItem first anyhow, even if it's just a partially filled out one).

Tim 

--

Tim Donohue

Technical Lead, DSpace

tim.d...@lyrasis.org

Lyrasis.org | DSpace.org

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From: dspac...@googlegroups.com <dspac...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of J <schu...@effective-webwork.de>
Sent: Thursday, August 20, 2020 3:38 AM
To: DSpace Technical Support <dspac...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [dspace-tech] Additional workflow before submission?

 

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[schu...@effective-webwork.de]

Hi Tim,

thanks a lot for your detailed answer! We are currently trying if that idea will work for us, and I will get back to you with our results shortly.

Johannes