diff --git a/src/app/+item-page/simple/item-types/shared/item-relationships-utils.ts b/src/app/+item-page/simple/item-types/shared/item-relationships-utils.ts
index c63900663d..36c605fdc1 100644
--- a/src/app/+item-page/simple/item-types/shared/item-relationships-utils.ts
+++ b/src/app/+item-page/simple/item-types/shared/item-relationships-utils.ts
@@ -7,13 +7,13 @@ import { hasNoValue, hasValue } from '../../../../shared/empty.util';
 import { Observable } from 'rxjs/internal/Observable';
 import { Relationship } from '../../../../core/shared/item-relationships/relationship.model';
 import { RelationshipType } from '../../../../core/shared/item-relationships/relationship-type.model';
-import { distinctUntilChanged, filter, flatMap, map, switchMap, tap } from 'rxjs/operators';
-import { of as observableOf, zip as observableZip, combineLatest as observableCombineLatest } from 'rxjs';
-import { ItemDataService } from '../../../../core/data/item-data.service';
+import { distinctUntilChanged, filter, flatMap, map, switchMap } from 'rxjs/operators';
+import { zip as observableZip, combineLatest as observableCombineLatest } from 'rxjs';
 import { Item } from '../../../../core/shared/item.model';
 import { RemoteData } from '../../../../core/data/remote-data';
 import { RelationshipService } from '../../../../core/data/relationship.service';
 import { PaginatedList } from '../../../../core/data/paginated-list';
+import { of } from 'rxjs/internal/observable/of';
 
 /**
  * Operator for comparing arrays using a mapping function
@@ -100,6 +100,12 @@ export const relationsToItems = (thisId: string) =>
       distinctUntilChanged(compareArraysUsingIds()),
     );
 
+/**
+ * Operator for turning a paginated list of relationships into a paginated list of the relevant items
+ * The result is wrapped in the original RemoteData and PaginatedList
+ * @param {string} thisId       The item's id of which the relations belong to
+ * @returns {(source: Observable<Relationship[]>) => Observable<Item[]>}
+ */
 export const paginatedRelationsToItems = (thisId: string) =>
   (source: Observable<RemoteData<PaginatedList<Relationship>>>): Observable<RemoteData<PaginatedList<Item>>> =>
     source.pipe(
@@ -128,39 +134,27 @@ export const paginatedRelationsToItems = (thisId: string) =>
       })
     );
 
-/**
- * Operator for turning a list of relationships and their relationship-types into a list of relevant items by relationship label
- * @param thisId  The item's id of which the relations belong to
- * @param label   The label of the relationship-type to filter on
- * @param side    Filter only on one side of the relationship (for example: child-parent relationships)
- */
-export const getRelatedItemsByTypeLabel = (thisId: string, label: string) =>
-  (source: Observable<[Relationship[], RelationshipType[]]>): Observable<Item[]> =>
-    source.pipe(
-      filterRelationsByTypeLabel(label, thisId),
-      relationsToItems(thisId)
-    );
-
 /**
  * Operator for turning a list of relationships into a list of metadatarepresentations given the original metadata
+ * The result is wrapped in the original RemoteData and PaginatedList
  * @param parentId    The id of the parent item
  * @param itemType    The type of relation this list resembles (for creating representations)
  * @param metadata    The list of original Metadatum objects
- * @param ids         The ItemDataService to use for fetching Items from the Rest API
  */
-export const relationsToRepresentations = (parentId: string, itemType: string, metadata: MetadataValue[], ids: ItemDataService) =>
-  (source: Observable<Relationship[]>): Observable<MetadataRepresentation[]> =>
+export const relationsToRepresentations = (parentId: string, itemType: string, metadata: MetadataValue[]) =>
+  (source: Observable<RemoteData<PaginatedList<Relationship>>>): Observable<RemoteData<PaginatedList<MetadataRepresentation>>> =>
     source.pipe(
-      flatMap((rels: Relationship[]) =>
+      flatMap((relRD: RemoteData<PaginatedList<Relationship>>) =>
         observableZip(
           ...metadata
             .map((metadatum: any) => Object.assign(new MetadataValue(), metadatum))
             .map((metadatum: MetadataValue) => {
               if (metadatum.isVirtual) {
-                const matchingRels = rels.filter((rel: Relationship) => ('' + rel.id) === metadatum.virtualValue);
+                const matchingRels = relRD.payload.page.filter((rel: Relationship) => ('' + rel.id) === metadatum.virtualValue);
                 if (matchingRels.length > 0) {
                   const matchingRel = matchingRels[0];
                   return observableCombineLatest(matchingRel.leftItem, matchingRel.rightItem).pipe(
+                    filter(([leftItem, rightItem]) => leftItem.hasSucceeded && rightItem.hasSucceeded),
                     map(([leftItem, rightItem]) => {
                       if (leftItem.payload.id === parentId) {
                         return rightItem.payload;
@@ -172,9 +166,12 @@ export const relationsToRepresentations = (parentId: string, itemType: string, m
                   );
                 }
               } else {
-                return observableOf(Object.assign(new MetadatumRepresentation(itemType), metadatum));
+                return of(Object.assign(new MetadatumRepresentation(itemType), metadatum));
               }
             })
+        ).pipe(
+          distinctUntilChanged(compareArraysUsingIds()),
+          map((representations: MetadataRepresentation[]) => Object.assign(relRD, { payload: { page: representations } }))
         )
       )
     );
diff --git a/src/app/+item-page/simple/item-types/shared/item.component.ts b/src/app/+item-page/simple/item-types/shared/item.component.ts
index 18aa229611..79255f6d7c 100644
--- a/src/app/+item-page/simple/item-types/shared/item.component.ts
+++ b/src/app/+item-page/simple/item-types/shared/item.component.ts
@@ -1,57 +1,12 @@
 import { Component, Inject } from '@angular/core';
-import { Observable ,  zip as observableZip, combineLatest as observableCombineLatest } from 'rxjs';
-import { filter, flatMap, map } from 'rxjs/operators';
+import { Observable } from 'rxjs';
 import { PaginatedList } from '../../../../core/data/paginated-list';
 import { RemoteData } from '../../../../core/data/remote-data';
-import { Relationship } from '../../../../core/shared/item-relationships/relationship.model';
 import { Item } from '../../../../core/shared/item.model';
 import { ITEM } from '../../../../shared/items/switcher/item-type-switcher.component';
 import { MetadataRepresentation } from '../../../../core/shared/metadata-representation/metadata-representation.model';
-import { ItemMetadataRepresentation } from '../../../../core/shared/metadata-representation/item/item-metadata-representation.model';
-import { MetadatumRepresentation } from '../../../../core/shared/metadata-representation/metadatum/metadatum-representation.model';
-import { of } from 'rxjs/internal/observable/of';
-import { MetadataValue } from '../../../../core/shared/metadata.models';
 import { RelationshipService } from '../../../../core/data/relationship.service';
-
-/**
- * Operator for turning a list of relationships into a list of metadatarepresentations given the original metadata
- * @param thisId      The id of the parent item
- * @param itemType    The type of relation this list resembles (for creating representations)
- * @param metadata    The list of original Metadatum objects
- */
-export const relationsToRepresentations = (thisId: string, itemType: string, metadata: MetadataValue[]) =>
-  (source: Observable<RemoteData<PaginatedList<Relationship>>>): Observable<RemoteData<PaginatedList<MetadataRepresentation>>> =>
-    source.pipe(
-      flatMap((relRD: RemoteData<PaginatedList<Relationship>>) =>
-        observableZip(
-          ...metadata
-            .map((metadatum: any) => Object.assign(new MetadataValue(), metadatum))
-            .map((metadatum: MetadataValue) => {
-            if (metadatum.isVirtual) {
-              const matchingRels = relRD.payload.page.filter((rel: Relationship) => ('' + rel.id) === metadatum.virtualValue);
-              if (matchingRels.length > 0) {
-                const matchingRel = matchingRels[0];
-                return observableCombineLatest(matchingRel.leftItem, matchingRel.rightItem).pipe(
-                  filter(([leftItem, rightItem]) => leftItem.hasSucceeded && rightItem.hasSucceeded),
-                  map(([leftItem, rightItem]) => {
-                    if (leftItem.payload.id === thisId) {
-                      return rightItem.payload;
-                    } else if (rightItem.payload.id === thisId) {
-                      return leftItem.payload;
-                    }
-                  }),
-                  map((item: Item) => Object.assign(new ItemMetadataRepresentation(), item))
-                );
-              }
-            } else {
-              return of(Object.assign(new MetadatumRepresentation(itemType), metadatum));
-            }
-          })
-        ).pipe(
-          map((representations: MetadataRepresentation[]) => Object.assign(relRD, { payload: { page: representations } }))
-        )
-      )
-    );
+import { relationsToRepresentations } from './item-relationships-utils';
 
 @Component({
   selector: 'ds-item',
diff --git a/themes/mantis/app/+item-page/simple/item-types/publication/publication.component.html b/themes/mantis/app/+item-page/simple/item-types/publication/publication.component.html
index 6b6f484183..bb3d6f8bd0 100644
--- a/themes/mantis/app/+item-page/simple/item-types/publication/publication.component.html
+++ b/themes/mantis/app/+item-page/simple/item-types/publication/publication.component.html
@@ -62,19 +62,19 @@
         <div class="row">
             <div class="col-12 col-md-4" *ngIf="projects$ | async">
                 <ds-related-items
-                        [items]="projects$ | async"
+                        [items]="(projects$ | async)?.payload?.page"
                         [label]="'relationships.isProjectOf' | translate">
                 </ds-related-items>
             </div>
             <div class="col-12 col-md-4" *ngIf="orgUnits$ | async">
                 <ds-related-items
-                        [items]="orgUnits$ | async"
+                        [items]="(orgUnits$ | async)?.payload?.page"
                         [label]="'relationships.isOrgUnitOf' | translate">
                 </ds-related-items>
             </div>
             <div class="col-12 col-md-4" *ngIf="journalIssues$ | async">
                 <ds-related-items
-                        [items]="journalIssues$ | async"
+                        [items]="(journalIssues$ | async)?.payload?.page"
                         [label]="'relationships.isJournalIssueOf' | translate">
                 </ds-related-items>
             </div>