News & Views: The Impact of Open Access on UK Learned Societies - Delta Think

"Universities UK’s Monitoring the Transition to Open Access 2015 report and its recent 2017 update provide an interesting source of information about the effects of open access on a sample of UK societies. But how well does the data project onto the wider global picture? In combination with Delta Think’s extensive experience working with more than 70 societies in North America and the UK over the last decade, we can overlay insights we have gathered to put together an understanding of how a shift towards open access publishing might impact learned societies in the mid to long term. Background Many learned societies rely heavily on income from publishing peer reviewed journals to fund their wider mission-driven programs and activities. In many cases the majority of publishing income is from institutional subscriptions. When considering the impact of OA from a financial perspective, their primary concern is how APC revenue might replace potential declines in subscription income (and related income including rights, reprints, etc.). The 2015 study did not find any overall impact of open access on societies, because the UK mandates on open access had yet to come into effect. Its analysis of the published accounts of a sample of 30 UK societies found them to generally be in good financial health, although it did find evidence of declining publishing surpluses...."