6.1 - To Love or Leave: Working with Publishers in an Age of Transformation

As the business of publishing rapidly evolves, scholarly societies are looking for a partner, model, and support that best aligns with their publication program’s ambitions. In this panel discussion, speakers will highlight the pros and cons of moving publishers, discuss how to evaluate a publisher for a future that does not exist yet, and provide firsthand accounts from journals that have navigated whether to go out for tender or not (and why). The session aims to focus on the business of publications, the relationship between societies and publishers, and this common but daunting stage in a journal’s life cycle.

Part 1: Background | Speaker: Elizabeth Yepez, Springer Nature
- What are the changes happening in society publishing?
- What are the emerging needs of societies due to those changes?
- How are publishers evolving to meet those needs?

Part 2: Advice from a Publishing Consultant | Speaker: Pam Harley, Partner, Clarke and Esposito
- How to evaluate current and prospective relationships on the basis of established goals.
- How do you factor in the future in a current partnership (evaluate a publisher for a future that does not exist yet)?
- Choosing to partner with a publisher may mean choosing strategies or paths.
- How does publisher choice show up in the publisher - society relationship?

Part 3: Experience of a Society Executive | Speaker: Glenn Landis, Senior Director, Publications, American Society of Hematology
- What metrics/goals were used for making the decision?
- How did they weigh unknowns?
- How did they approach evaluating prospective publishers?