Exploratory Study into Linguistics Department Student Working Papers Journal Cloud Architecture
Abstract
Content delivery of all media types has been increasingly digitized. Whereas in the past, the Linguistics Department at NEIU had a Student Working Papers Journal where those at an early stage of their career can practice academic skills, that publication existed primarily in print format with limited distribution. The journal eventually ceased regular publication due to the logistical challenges of print production, the absence of sustainable infrastructure, and the departmental priority shifts common in smaller programs. This exploratory study examines the feasibility of reviving the journal as a digital-first, open-access publication using modern cloud architecture principles while maintaining minimal operational overhead. The central research question guiding this investigation is: What is the minimum viable technical infrastructure required to sustain a student-led, peer-reviewed linguistics journal? Rather than pursuing feature-rich but complex platforms common in academic publishing, this study prioritizes simplicity, reproducibility, and low maintenance requirements. We intend to utilize Open Journal Systems (OJS) as our publishing platform, but conduct comparative testing across multiple cloud providers to evaluate performance, cost, and administrative overhead. The testing matrix includes major commercial providers (AWS EC2, Azure VMs, Google Compute Engine), European budget-focused alternatives (Hetzner), and self-hosted options (NextCloud integrated with OJS). Each provider will be evaluated on four criteria: monthly cost at entry-level tiers, CPU/RAM performance under simulated load, storage I/O for PDF delivery, and configuration complexity measured in time-to-deploy for a non-specialist graduate student. All configurations will be managed declaratively using the Nix package manager to ensure environments are reproducible and version-controllable across providers, addressing the "sustainable infrastructure" requirement directly through infrastructure-as-code practices. This research contributes to the broader conversation around sustainable digital humanities infrastructure by demonstrating that effective academic publishing need not require enterprise-scale solutions. For departments with limited technical support but strong student initiative, the cloud architecture outlined here provides a viable pathway to reviving dormant publications and training the next generation of scholars in both academic writing and digital publishing practices.
Exploratory Study into Linguistics Department Student Working Papers Journal Cloud Architecture
Poster #14
Content delivery of all media types has been increasingly digitized. Whereas in the past, the Linguistics Department at NEIU had a Student Working Papers Journal where those at an early stage of their career can practice academic skills, that publication existed primarily in print format with limited distribution. The journal eventually ceased regular publication due to the logistical challenges of print production, the absence of sustainable infrastructure, and the departmental priority shifts common in smaller programs. This exploratory study examines the feasibility of reviving the journal as a digital-first, open-access publication using modern cloud architecture principles while maintaining minimal operational overhead. The central research question guiding this investigation is: What is the minimum viable technical infrastructure required to sustain a student-led, peer-reviewed linguistics journal? Rather than pursuing feature-rich but complex platforms common in academic publishing, this study prioritizes simplicity, reproducibility, and low maintenance requirements. We intend to utilize Open Journal Systems (OJS) as our publishing platform, but conduct comparative testing across multiple cloud providers to evaluate performance, cost, and administrative overhead. The testing matrix includes major commercial providers (AWS EC2, Azure VMs, Google Compute Engine), European budget-focused alternatives (Hetzner), and self-hosted options (NextCloud integrated with OJS). Each provider will be evaluated on four criteria: monthly cost at entry-level tiers, CPU/RAM performance under simulated load, storage I/O for PDF delivery, and configuration complexity measured in time-to-deploy for a non-specialist graduate student. All configurations will be managed declaratively using the Nix package manager to ensure environments are reproducible and version-controllable across providers, addressing the "sustainable infrastructure" requirement directly through infrastructure-as-code practices. This research contributes to the broader conversation around sustainable digital humanities infrastructure by demonstrating that effective academic publishing need not require enterprise-scale solutions. For departments with limited technical support but strong student initiative, the cloud architecture outlined here provides a viable pathway to reviving dormant publications and training the next generation of scholars in both academic writing and digital publishing practices.