Scholarly Societies in the Age of COVID | Ithaka S+R

"We wondered if the pandemic created more pressure for societies to convert to open access models. While many made some of their content temporarily open, especially the COVID-related material they published (“We’re 24/7 COVID, all freely available to everybody: research articles, advocacy, wellness information, podcasts and webinars”), we didn’t hear anything beyond the usual mix of inducements and hesitations to move to OA. The directors we spoke with were all over the map in trying to navigate these variables and the constituencies they impact, with STEM publishers feeling more urgency to respond to calls for open science and funder demands. “We’re getting pressure from the industry and funders, but not from our authors and members,” one director told us. Plans to launch new OA journals, or transition existing journals to OA models seemed part of the natural evolution of thinking rather than a response to the pandemic. Many societies were happy with their current mix of subscription, hybrid, and fully open journals, and weighing an evolutionary path that protected their sustainability...."