Journal Publishers Must Invest in Data-Driven Services Around Content, According to New Whitepaper from Ixxus

"STM and scholarly publishers must invest in a data-driven, services-oriented approach in order to meet the challenges posed by open access models of publishing, according to a 20-page whitepaper published this week. For publishers with a strong belief in the value that they add, the threat of 'free content' is not as insurmountable a challenge as might first appear, the paper concludes. 'Article-publishing isn’t as important as it used to be. The concentration is now, much more than ever before, on the whole chain of scholarly communication,' said David Worlock, co-chair of Outsell and consultant to the information industry The free whitepaper investigates the impact of open access on major STM publishers such as Oxford University Press, SAGE, OECD, and Taylor & Francis, and includes independent research commissioned by Ixxus, a global technology company specialising in publishing solutions that accelerate digital transformation. The paper, entitled ‘Unlocking Content: Meeting the Challenges of Open Access Publishing,’ is an exploration of the effects which open access publishing is having on business models, consumer bases, and revenue opportunities. 'This whitepaper visualizes some of the ways in which STM and scholarly journal publishers can maximize margins, while ensuring that expectations from the academic community and government mandates around open access requirements are met,' commented Steve Odart, CEO and co-founder of Ixxus. 'With open access now seen as a necessary part of staying in the journals game, it is essential that STM and scholarly publishers incorporate it into their overall content strategy.' The whitepaper can be accessed for free at http://www.ixxus.com/stm-whitepaper "