Something that’s long been missing in scholarly publishing is a resource for industry professionals and organizations to access reliable comparative compensation and benefits data for the specialized positions represented in scholarly communications. In the US, for example, you won’t find many common scholarly publishing job titles in the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (US BLS) list of occupational profiles.
The US BLS Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system, a federal statistical standard used by agencies to collect, calculate, and share data, identifies a worker’s occupation based on their job duties and responsibilities. The job titles you will find there related to publishing are broad and cross many industry sectors making it a difficult tool for meaningful benchmarking. It does not account for positions outside of the US, of which there are many in our industry.
The Society for Scholarly Publishing (SSP) aims to fill the gap with a new compensation and benefits study. The SSP Compensation and Benefits Benchmarking Study is an annual global benchmarking survey focused on gathering wage, compensation, benefits, policies, and skills from individuals working in scholarly communications and the organizations that employ them. The study will provide comprehensive data on current wage standards and compensation trends in the scholarly publishing sector. This insight is invaluable for understanding how the industry is evolving in terms of financial remuneration. The survey and results are hosted on SSP’s new Insights platform. The study will be a powerful tool for both individuals and organizations in the scholarly publishing industry, helping them make data-driven decisions regarding compensation, benefits, policies, and career development.
The study consists of two surveys, one for individuals and one for organizations. SSP has committed to run the study for at least three years so that we can evaluate trends as well as provide annual access to compensation data. We are partnering with Dynamic Benchmarking, whose platform is purpose-built to anonymously, safely, and securely collect performance, salary, and financial information. The study was developed with the input of SSP members who serve on the SSP Benchmarking Advisory Board including: Janine Chiappa McKenna, Minty Colquhoun, Emily Ekle, Jack Farrell, Aimee Greene, Toni Gunnison, Lucy Ofiesh, Nicola Poser, and Rashika Venkataraman.
Scholarly publishers and the companies that provide services for publishing activities come in all shapes and sizes — non-profit, commercial, university presses, big tech and small startups to name a few. While benchmarking tools for certain sectors of our industry exist; for example the Association of University Presses Compensation Survey (for university press data) and ASAE’s Association Compensation and Benefits Study (for society and association data), they serve fairly small segments of the market and don’t provide a full picture of the scholarly publishing landscape. At the end of the day, most publishing employers are hiring from a similar pool of potential employees, and in order to be successful, they need to provide competitive salaries and benefits or at least understand what the value of a particular role is across the industry.
As a result of the study, organizations in the industry will be able to benchmark and analyze the current compensation and benefits trends and practices among other organizations in the scholarly publishing industry. Participants will gain valuable insights to make informed decisions regarding competitive salaries and benefits, which is crucial for attracting and retaining top talent. The study will help identify gaps in current packages and support recommendations for salary adjustments and benefits enhancements with evidence. It will also provide insight into remote-work policies across the industry which has become an important topic in workplace considerations.
Understanding industry-standard compensation helps organizations ensure that their employees are paid fairly, which is a key factor in employee satisfaction and retention. Satisfied employees are more likely to remain with an organization, reducing turnover costs. The study helps organizations stay adaptable to market changes, such as shifts in demand for certain skills or changes in the overall employment landscape, by providing up-to-date information on trends. For higher-level strategic planning, this data can be crucial. It allows organizations to forecast budgetary needs and plan for future growth or restructuring.
For individuals in the industry, the study results can serve as a benchmark for personal career planning and advocating for equitable compensation. Participants will be able to understand what constitutes a competitive salary and benefits package in their industry and region and leverage this information in job negotiations. Additionally, SSP has rolled data collection for its annual Publishing Skills Survey into the study. For this portion of the study publishing professionals are asked to indicate which personal characteristics, transferable/interpersonal skills, and technical/knowledge-based skills are essential to success in their respective positions. Respondents can also identify skills they would most like to develop further, highlighting opportunities for training and mentorship in those areas as they advance in their careers. These results will also continue to be reported in the Professional Skills Map, an interactive tool for exploring career paths in scholarly publishing.
We frequently refer to scholarly publishing as an accidental profession. Often skills one might have gained in a different industry are applicable and transferable to publishing. The study is also a useful tool for students or individuals working outside of publishing to help evaluate if their current skills, education, or experience are transferable and what they might expect in terms of compensation if they pursue a role in the industry.
Obviously, all of this incredibly useful data has to come from somewhere. SSP sees this initiative as a community project from which the industry as a whole can derive a great deal of benefit. In order to realize this benefit, we need organizations and individuals to participate by contributing their data to the study. By doing so and completing at least 60% of the questions, organizations will receive a complimentary executive summary of the aggregate data submitted by other organizations and individuals will receive a downloadable report comparing their responses of select data points to the aggregate responses that have similar job titles. For a deeper dive into the results which includes dynamic comparison reports with additional filters, premium and enterprise access options will be available for purchase by participants and non-participants starting in January.
Data collection for the study began November 25, 2024 and will run through March 31, 2025. Reports will be available starting February 2025. The survey accepts data in all currencies as it’s meant to provide a picture of the global landscape. To protect data anonymity, results are displayed for questions with 5 or more responses. All proprietary data collected from participating individuals and organizations is treated as privileged and confidential. Aggregated data shown in the study is anonymous and presented without attribution to individuals or their organizational affiliation. SSP retains sole and exclusive management control over all aspects of the study’s production and distribution.
Conducting and sharing the results of the study enhances transparency in the industry, which can foster a greater sense of trust and community among professionals and organizations. Help shape fair and competitive compensation practices in scholarly communications by participating in this vital study. Your input is necessary to create accurate, research-based data that individuals and organizations can use to make informed decisions. Learn more or begin adding your data to the study at https://www.sspnet.org/resources/insights.
