diff --git a/.circleci/config.yml b/.circleci/config.yml
index 17a126e90e..01386dc2f3 100644
--- a/.circleci/config.yml
+++ b/.circleci/config.yml
@@ -1,49 +1,32 @@
-# Use the latest 2.1 version of CircleCI pipeline process engine.
-# See: https://circleci.com/docs/2.0/configuration-reference
 version: 2.1
-
-# Orbs are reusable packages of CircleCI configuration that you may share across projects, enabling you to create encapsulated, parameterized commands, jobs, and executors that can be used across multiple projects.
-# See: https://circleci.com/docs/2.0/orb-intro/
 orbs:
-  # The python orb contains a set of prepackaged CircleCI configuration you can use repeatedly in your configuration files
-  # Orb commands and jobs help you with common scripting around a language/tool
-  # so you dont have to copy and paste it everywhere.
-  # See the orb documentation here: https://circleci.com/developer/orbs/orb/circleci/python
   python: circleci/python@2.1.1
 
-# Define a job to be invoked later in a workflow.
-# See: https://circleci.com/docs/2.0/configuration-reference/#jobs
 jobs:
-  build-and-test: # This is the name of the job, feel free to change it to better match what you're trying to do!
-    # These next lines defines a Docker executors: https://circleci.com/docs/2.0/executor-types/
-    # You can specify an image from Dockerhub or use one of the convenience images from CircleCI's Developer Hub
-    # A list of available CircleCI Docker convenience images are available here: https://circleci.com/developer/images/image/cimg/python
-    # The executor is the environment in which the steps below will be executed - below will use a python 3.10.2 container
-    # Change the version below to your required version of python
+  build-and-test:
     docker:
-      - image: elasticsearch:7.10.1
       - image: cimg/python:3.8.10
-    # Checkout the code as the first step. This is a dedicated CircleCI step.
-    # The python orb's install-packages step will install the dependencies from a Pipfile via Pipenv by default.
-    # Here we're making sure we use just use the system-wide pip. By default it uses the project root's requirements.txt.
-    # Then run your tests!
-    # CircleCI will report the results back to your VCS provider.
-    #executor: python/default
+        environment:
+          DOAJENV: test
+      - image: elasticsearch:7.10.1
+        environment:
+          - xpack.security.enabled: false
+          - transport.host: localhost
+          - discovery.type: single-node
     steps:
       - checkout
+      - run: git submodule update --init --recursive
       - python/install-packages:
-          pkg-manager: pip
-          args: test
+          pkg-manager: pip-dist
+          pip-dependency-file: setup.py
+          path-args: .[test]
       - run: |
+          echo "ELASTICSEARCH_HOSTS = [{'host': 'localhost', 'port': 9200}]" > test.cfg
           python portality/cms/build_fragments.py
           python portality/cms/build_sass.py
-          echo "ELASTIC_SEARCH_HOST = \"http://localhost:9200\"" > dev.cfg
           pytest -v --color=yes --code-highlight=yes --log-level=DEBUG doajtest/unit
 
-# Invoke jobs via workflows
-# See: https://circleci.com/docs/2.0/configuration-reference/#workflows
 workflows:
-  sample: # This is the name of the workflow, feel free to change it to better match your workflow.
-    # Inside the workflow, you define the jobs you want to run.
+  unit_tests:
     jobs:
       - build-and-test
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.python-version b/.python-version
index 548d71365f..8137a6c16c 100644
--- a/.python-version
+++ b/.python-version
@@ -1 +1 @@
-3.7
\ No newline at end of file
+3.8.10
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index f84c3813d3..d38c6f6e5d 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@
         "flask-swagger @ git+https://github.com/DOAJ/flask-swagger.git@f1dbf918d9903a588eed3cce2a87eeccc9f8cc0e#egg=flask-swagger"
     ] + (["setproctitle==1.1.10"] if "linux" in sys.platform else []),
     extras_require={
-        "test": ["pytest", "pytest-cov", "pytest-xdist", "selenium",
+        "test": ["pytest", "pytest-cov", "pytest-xdist", "selenium==3.141",  # prevent backtracking through all versions
                  "combinatrix @ git+https://github.com/CottageLabs/combinatrix.git@740d255f0050d53a20324df41c08981499bb292c#egg=combinatrix"],
         "docs": [
             "featuremap @ git+https://github.com/CottageLabs/FeatureMap.git@cb52c345b942e50726767b1a7190f1a01b81e722#egg=featuremap",