This article was originally published on Research Consulting.
We are delighted to announce the publication of a new white paper, “Safeguarding the Future of Society Publishing“, which explores how learned societies are navigating the evolving scholarly communications landscape.
This research, supported by CCC, responds to the significant challenges facing society publishers today and the findings aim to support learned societies to navigate industry transformation through collaboration and adaptation.
Understanding the challenges of society publishers today
Building on previous work that identified revenue decline and rapid drop in the number of self-publishing societies in the UK, we launched a comprehensive study to understand how learned societies around the world are responding to today’s rapidly changing publishing environment.
Between November 2024 and January 2025, 66 society publishers contributed to an international survey covering current publishing practices, income trends, future strategies (including open access and AI impacts), and partnership relationships. In March 2025, these findings were validated through an interactive workshop with 40 representatives from participating societies and industry experts from STM, SSP, ALPSP, and BioOne.
Seven critical insights for society publishers
Our white paper reveals seven key findings that highlight both the challenges and opportunities facing society publishers as they work to preserve their unique value in scholarly communications:
- Publishing remains core to societies’ identity – Nearly 80% of respondents still consider publishing central to their mission, with most having published for over 50 years. This enduring commitment reflects the fundamental role of publishing in scholarly communities.
- Print persists alongside digital – While digital transformation dominates discussions, more than half of societies maintain dual-format publishing. This balance between innovation with tradition reflects societies understandings of their diverse membership needs.
- Revenue pressures are mounting – The financial landscape is changing dramatically with, 56% of societies report declining journal revenues since 2019. These pressures directly impact societies’ ability to fund community activities.
- Scale confers resilience – Our data reveals that size matters. Societies with larger journal portfolios and diverse publishing outputs demonstrate significantly greater financial stability, while those with smaller publishing portfolios face increased vulnerability in today’s competitive market.
- Artificial intelligence presents a paradox – Interestingly, AI ranked as both the greatest challenge and the most significant opportunity for society publishers. Societies are actively seeking guidance on implementation and licensing best practices.
- Open access creates volume without proportionate revenue – 55% of societies expect content volume to grow faster than revenues. This misalignment threatens to strain quality assurance processes at a time when maintaining research integrity is more crucial than ever.
- Collaboration is increasingly essential – Facing these complex challenges, societies recognise that collaborative approaches are key to future success. From challenges including data integration, AI implementation, revenue decline, and the transition to open access publishing, strategic partnerships offer pathways to sustainability.
Safeguarding the future of society publishing
This research highlights that society publishers hold a unique and valuable role in scholarly communication. Through their deep community connections and subject expertise, they build trust in the research enterprise at a time when it is increasingly under threat.
However, the future of society publishing demands both pragmatic adaptation to changing market conditions and collaborative partnerships that maintain independence while accessing essential capabilities. As one participant noted:
“It’s a challenging time and collaboration, whether with other societies or publisher partners, will be crucial … I think the challenges will only continue to grow and so strong partnerships and relationships with other parties inside and outside of your own research community and field will be essential.”
To find out more about this research, and gain a clear picture of the challenges and opportunities facing learned society publishers in today’s scholarly communications landscape, read the full white paper here.
For an analysis of the full response to all survey questions you can also refer to this PowerPoint deck.