Society finances

Society finances are often thought to rest on a three-legged stool, where publishing is complemented by event and membership income. Publishing revenues have been under pressure for years. In partner-published societies, the inclusion of journals in big deals means shrinking revenue and a loss of transparency, while at the same time independent society publishers have struggled to sell single subscriptions in a market where the majority of funds are directed at big deals. Society approaches to OA, however, are driven by the needs and preferences of their members and therefore many societies are embracing OA and aiming to transition away from subscription revenues. In practice this has meant independent society publishers implementing new models, working with consortia as well as agents and introducing entirely new workflows and metadata to manage deals, in a very short space of time. By contrast partner-published societies have been swept along by their partners, usually with a further loss of visibility and control over their own titles