MODERATOR: Dana Compton Managing Director and Publisher American Society of Civil Engineers Reston, Virginia SPEAKERS: Kathleen Gaffney Consultant KG Publishing Solutions New York, New York Erin Landis Vice President of Publications American Gastroenterological Association Bethesda, Maryland Dana Compton REPORTER: Heather DiAngelis Associate Publications Director, Transportation Research Board National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine Washington, DC At the Council of Science Editors’ 2021 Annual Meeting, 3 speakers from diverse organizations presented at the virtual session with the intent of providing an introduction to financial models, budgeting, profit and loss statements, and journal health assessment in order to maximize publication success. Kathleen Gaffney, Consultant at KG Publishing Solutions, kicked off the session with an overview of how to become involved with finances within an organization, even if it means starting small. She noted that one of the most important aspects for starting is understanding your organization’s journal goals and strategies. Every journal is unique in its finances; for instance, some journals are mission-driven while others are profit-driven. She went on to explain the difference between self-published societies (in-house publishing operations in which the society collects all revenue and pays all expenses) and contract publishing (in which a society is responsible for editorial content but a publisher collects all revenue and pays all expenses while making some payments to the society). Next, she discussed different journal ownership models for commercial and university publishers, including proprietary, society, society-controlled, and society-affiliated. Gaffney then introduced various journal publishing business models for obtaining revenue, including […]