The Global Pandemic and Scholarly Societies
Robert Harington asks how scholarly societies are coping as the global coronavirus pandemic continues to cast a shadow, certainly well into 2021 and very likely into 2022 and beyond?
Guest Post — Building Resilient Learned Societies in an Age of Pandemic and Fear
In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, learned societies are facing some challenges that call for adaptive-transformative resilience. Guest author Trevor Perry-Giles discusses steps societies must take in crafting a “new normalcy” for sustainability.
Scholarly Societies: The Importance of Community
In this article Robert Harington describes how scholarly societies are an indelible part of the research and support system for academics across many disciplines. Robert suggests rather than requiring societies to seek alternative revenue streams beyond publishing, why not turn that argument on its head and more fully support society and academic community life?
Guest Post — How the American Astronomical Society Acquired Sky & Telescope Magazine
A glimpse behind the scenes as a research society added a popular magazine to its publishing portfolio.
Why Scholarly Societies Are Vitally Important to the Academic Ecosystem
Robert Harington suggests that despite the critical role of scholarly societies in publishing and academia, the sad reality is it is the big corporate publishers who win.
Revisiting — Navigating the Big Deal: A Guide for Societies
In the wak of Plan S, many independent and society publishers are investigating partnerships with larger publishing houses. It’s important to understand what it means to join a publisher’s Big Deal program, and so here we revisit Michael Clarke’s post that explains the changing nature of the Big Deal and what it can mean for these partnerships.
Scholarly Kitchen Webinar: The Future of Independent and Society Publishing
The scholarly communications marketplace has become increasingly difficult for the smaller independent and the society publisher. Here we preview our upcoming webinar looking at the future for these publishers.
Guest Post — One Society’s Journey towards Equity
Randy Townsend from the American Geophysical Union discusses the strides that organization has made toward equity and diversity.
Ask The Chefs: Society Sustainability
With many professional societies finding their revenue sources under pressure, this month we asked the Chefs: How might professional societies continue to be sustainable?
Strategic and Non-strategic Society Publishing
Many society publishers, concerned about the disruptive implications, of Plan S, are nervously considering selling off their publishing assets.
Revisiting: Governance and the Not-for-profit Publisher
How can not-for-profit organizations outcompete their commercial rivals? Revisiting Joe Esposito’s 2011 post that lays out a blueprint for success.
Why Society and Not-For-Profit Journals Are Worth Preserving: Better Economic and Continuing Value for the Community
Plan S seems to favor larger, commercial publishers over smaller, independent, not-for-profit publishers. Is this an acceptable sacrifice or are societies, and not-for-profit publishing, worth preserving?
Plan S: Impact on Society Publishers
Plan S implementation guidance has not provided reassurance to anxious society publishers
Navigating the Big Deal: A Guide for Societies
Shifts in how publishers market and sell journal packages have significant implications for society journal valuations over the long term. These same shifts may also be setting some societies up for publisher “lock-in” — making it difficult to change publishers in the future.
Societies, Mission and Publishing: Why One Size Does Not Fit All
Robert Harington argues that academic societies need to balance mission and business more effectively. There is nothing wrong with developing a mixed publishing economy that best suits a range of communities and types of business.