Los modelos de negocio de las revistas científicas en España

This chapter analyses the business models of Spanish scientific journals. This analysis is based on an integrated approach to the business model, which incorporates operational and strategic aspects of publishing, in addition to economic and financial factors. The data are taken from a survey that was distributed between 2012 and 2013 among 1,280 publishers of Spanish scientific journals included in the DULCINEA database and achieved a response rate of 44% (n=561). In addition to providing a statistical overview of the findings, the chapter also describes the basic business model profiles used for Spanish scientific journals. A descriptive analysis of the business model components reveals that Spanish scientific journals are dependent on institutional aid, whether in the form of subsidies, aid from the owner or income in kind and, to a lesser extent, sponsorships and donations. With respect to strategy, although the experience of publishers with open access is mostly positive, the areas for improvement most cited by respondents were financial limitations and a weak organizational structure. Regarding operations, the strong dependence of scientific journals on voluntary work to sustain their organizational structure (present among 70% of the publishers that responded), as well as the limited time of the staff in charge of the journals (fewer than nine percent of all respondents had full-time in-house staff). Furthermore, the joint role of scientific editor and administrator that is frequently taken on by publishers is hindering professionalization in the scientific publishing industry