*Scholastica’s free eBook, The Small Publisher’s Guide to Digitally Driven OA Journal Development, covers content production, hosting, and dissemination best practices to take your OA journal publishing program to the next level sustainably. Get your copy here!*

There’s never been a better time for scholarly organizations of any size to publish Open Access (OA) journals, with more possible OA models and online hosting options than ever before. But that doesn’t mean it’s not without its challenges. The research landscape is changing fast — from shifts in how readers find and engage with content to new archiving and indexing requirements. It’s a lot to keep up with, especially for smaller-sized publishers!

Are you working to develop an OA journal program at a scholarly society or academic institution and trying to figure out how to stay on top of the latest publishing standards and trends — short of cloning some of your team members?

The answer to that question starts with thinking digital.

In The Small Publisher’s Guide to Digitally Driven OA Journal Development, a new free eBook from Scholastica, we cover digital publishing best practices scholarly organizations of any size can leverage to take their OA journals to the next level sustainably.

eBook overview

Whether you’re cultivating an established OA journal program or starting a new one, you’re sure to have a full plate — that’s why harnessing opportunities to publish more efficiently via digital-first workflows and content optimization is essential. The Small Publisher’s Guide to Digitally Driven OA Journal Development provides a blueprint for digital content production, hosting, and dissemination strategies you can follow to expand the reach and impacts of your journals while keeping up with industry norms and requirements. Learn how to:

  • Optimize your journal website for online readers and search engines
  • Expand your article indexing and meet the latest metadata recommendations
  • Adopt a digital-first production process to publish more efficiently
  • Establish clear policies for content and data archiving

Throughout the eBook, we’ve included specific examples and “Quick Tip” boxes with links to relevant resources, as well as a “Digital Journal Publishing Professionalization Checklist” to help you bring everything together. You can use the checklist to determine where you stand in the spectrum of digital-first publishing best practices and what steps to take next.

By employing digitally-driven publishing strategies and processes, your team will be able to work more efficiently and better serve authors and readers at the same time.

Why digitally driven OA?

With OA costs incurred by authors and research institutions considerably outpacing inflation in recent years, there is a growing need for new publishing approaches. It’s up to mission-driven organizations to develop more sustainable modern publishing models and introduce much-needed competition to the corporate-dominated research landscape to foster a more equitable OA future for all.

Are you ready to get started? By implementing the digital strategies outlined in this guide, you can publish top-quality OA journals sustainably and disseminate new articles to the broadest readership possible.

We hope you enjoy this free resource and invite you to share it with your colleagues. We’d also love to hear what you think about it! Let us know in the comments below or by tweeting us at @scholasticahq!

OA Publishing Guide