Abstract
The release in September 2018 of Plan S has led many small and society publishers to examine their business models, and in particular ways to transform their journals from hybrids into pure open access (OA) titles. This paper explores one means by which a society publisher might transform, focused specifically on the institutional set-price publish and read (PR trends in article numbers, article costs and revenues; the administrative complexity of the options; and the reputational and financial risks to the Society associated with the package. We outline the process we followed to calculate the financial and publishing implications of P&R at different price points, and share our view that these kinds of packages are a stop on the way to new models of OA that do not rely on article processing charges (APCs). Our hope is that in sharing our experience, we will contribute to a collective best practice about how to transform society publishing.
Highlights
The Microbiology Society is a membership charity for scientists interested in microbes, their effects on our world and their practical uses
The Society’s vision is a world in which the science of microbiology provides maximum benefit to society, and this vision has set our approach to open access and open scholarship
The Microbiology Society collectively brainstormed a set of ten options for future business models (Figure 1), considering the geographic diversity of our author and subscriber bases; trends in article numbers, article costs and revenues; the administrative complexity of the options; and, critically, the reputational and financial risks to the Society associated with each option
Summary
The Microbiology Society is a membership charity for scientists interested in microbes, their effects on our world and their practical uses. It is one of the largest microbiology societies in Europe, with a worldwide membership based in universities, industry, hospitals, research institutes and schools. Throughout our 70-year history of publishing we have maintained our independence, which means our Publishing Committee and Council set the publishing agenda without needing to seek consent from an external publishing partner. This independence has been key to our publishing activities and policies. We offer our authors multiple routes to OA,[1] with the twin goals of ensuring that authors who do not have access to publication funds are not disenfranchised, and that we offer the maximum possible reader access to research
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