Join us for Intro to Allied Journal Publishing Solutions and Advice for Publishing In-House on September 29 at 2 PM UTC. During the webinar, members of Scholastica, the Scholarly Publishing Collective, and Westchester Publishing Services will share tips for building a thriving independent journals program and introduce Allied Journal Publishing Solutions, our new initiative to support nonprofit publishers.
In recent years, there’s been renewed interest among scholarly societies in cultivating individual journals or portfolios in-house, and for good reason.
Owning more of the publishing process can give societies greater control over their journals, closer alignment with their communities, and more flexibility to shape their publications for the future along with their other offerings and initiatives.
But “publishing in-house” doesn’t mean that society publishing teams have to handle every aspect of journal operations on their own, nor is that likely to be sustainable.
For societies considering developing or scaling an independent journals program, one of the most important questions to ask is:
Which publishing capabilities should we build internally, and where can the right technology and service partners help us move faster and operate as effectively as possible?
We’ll share our advice during an upcoming webinar introducing Allied Journal Publishing Solutions, a new initiative from Scholastica, the Scholarly Publishing Collective (SPC), and Westchester Publishing Services. Allied offers nonprofit publishers coordinated technology and workflow support to help them operate their journals on their terms.
The story behind Allied Journal Publishing Solutions
Since 2021, SPC, managed by Duke University Press, has offered nonprofit scholarly publishers subscription management, digital access fulfillment, institutional sales, discovery, and preservation services, as well as the opportunity to host their journals via a cooperative instance of the Silverchair platform.
Driven by an imperative to support fellow nonprofits in the rapidly consolidating scholarly publishing market, SPC is giving university presses and societies access to resources to help them manage the cost and complexity of operating and scaling journals, which they may previously only have had access to via commercial co-publishing agreements or bundled service models.
As SPC has grown, they’ve recognized a need among publishers for further support to connect their end-to-end journal workflows, including editorial management, copyediting, and production services, and integrated peer review software. SPC sought independent partners that could offer flexible, unbundled solutions, which led them to reach out to Scholastica and Westchester Publishing Services.
Together, SPC, Scholastica, and Westchester have developed Allied Journal Publishing Solutions to offer nonprofits an alternative to traditional publisher agreements and greater vendor choice.
It is undeniable that nonprofit publishers play a critical role in advancing scholarship, developing more equitable publishing models, and connecting global research communities, as aptly put by Robert Harington in the Scholarly Kitchen post, “Why Scholarly Societies Are Vitally Important to the Academic Ecosystem,” and Sarah Bray, Kathryn Conrad, and Jennifer Crewe in the IHE article “The Essential Value of University Presses.”
The Allied Journal Publishing Solutions partners believe in a world where nonprofit publishers not only survive but thrive in a diverse scholarly communication ecosystem where they have the power to meaningfully shape the future of publishing.
What Allied Journal Publishing Solutions offers
Publishers can choose to work with any or all Allied Journal Publishing Solutions partners based on their needs while benefiting from coordinated workflow support. The alliance partners work together to help joint clients connect the different aspects of their journal programs and streamline operations.
Available offerings include:
- Powerful and intuitive peer review software from Scholastica
- Editorial project management, copyediting, and production support from Westchester
- XML, HTML, and print-ready PDF production through Westchester or Scholastica
- Journal website hosting options (portfolio or individual) through SPC or Scholastica
- Subscription management, sales, and customer service support through SPC
What to expect during the Intro to Allied Journal Publishing Solutions webinar
We invite you to register for Intro to Allied Journal Publishing Solutions and Advice for Publishing In-House, on September 29 at 10 AM ET to learn more about the alliance and our tips for launching and growing independent journal publishing programs.
During the webinar, Publishing Services Manager at Duke University Press Raymond Lambert, CRO and Managing Director at Westchester Publishing Services Tyler Carey, and CEO and Co-Founder of Scholastica Brian Cody will share:
- An introduction to Allied and the software and services we offer to support non-profit publishers
- Practical steps organizations can take to assess their readiness for independent publishing or to evaluate their existing in-house publishing operations
- Advice on which publishing functions are best managed internally versus outsourced to specialized partners and how to determine the right balance for your journals program
We’ll have time for Q&A during the webinar, and everyone who signs up will receive the recording.
Learn more about the Allied Journal Publishing Solutions Partners
Allied services can be tailored to support a single journal or portfolio, giving organizations the flexibility to build a publishing operation that aligns with their resources and growth plans. You can reach out to any of the partners via the emails below to start a conversation about how we can support your journal goals!
Scholarly Publishing Collective: A Duke University Press initiative that provides hosting on the Silverchair platform, subscription management, digital access fulfillment, institutional sales support, discovery distribution, and preservation services. Email: rlambert@duke.edu
Scholastica: Trusted by 1,300+ journals, Scholastica offers modern, easy-to-integrate software and services for peer review management, article production, and OA journal hosting. Our mission is to empower scholarly organizations to publish top-quality research more efficiently and affordably, so they can further their missions. Email: partnerships@scholasticahq.com
Westchester Publishing Services: Journal publishers can benefit from our nearly six decades of experience, with workflow solutions for project management, copyediting, and production support to guide content from manuscript submission to final digital and print-ready outputs posted to your printer and hosting platforms of choice. Email: info@westchesterpubsvcs.com
