Developing Scholarly Journals Panel Discussion: How to attract quality submissions John Haynes Vice President, AIP

Overview Take a strategic view Adopt a proactive development attitude

Take a Strategic View of Your Journal and its Market State your vision Understand your market and stakeholders Compare / benchmark against the competition Position the journal Set meaningful (“SMART”) objectives that will achieve the mission Measure performance Review and refine objectives

State your vision Where do you want the journal to be in 3 to 5 years time? What are the strategic objectives of the journal’s owners? Is the vision for the journal consistent with the strategic direction of the owners?

Stakeholders Contributors: Authors & Research Institutions Researchers Increased awareness, submissions and participation so more engagement Consumers: Researchers, Scientists, Engineers, Faculty, Students and Educators Improved “destination” and “stickiness” so more usage and demand Buyers: Institutional, Consortial and Individual Buyers Better usage, attractiveness and value so more retention and upselling Intermediaries: Libraries, Librarians and Information Intermediaries Better usage, attractiveness and value so more recommending Society Members Higher attractiveness and satisfaction so more commitment and participation The Research Community and Outreach A strong place in the community

Understand the market Who are the authors? Who are the readers? What are the defining characteristics of the field? Where is good research being done? What is happening to funding? How is the research field changing, emerging areas, hot topics? Who are the competing journals?

Benchmark the journal What are its: Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats Identify your competitors How does your journal rate against the competition

Benchmark the journal Benchmarking Impact factor Immediacy index Usage (downloads) Speed to publication Feedback from authors, editors and referees Does the editorial board support the journal? Price per page Cost per page Revenue per article

Position the journal Where do you want the journal to be? Set “SMART” objectives Emphasize the journal’s strengths Eliminate its weaknesses Take up the opportunities Avoid or minimize the threats SMART: Specific; Measureable; Achievable; Realistic; Timely

Plan – Do – Review Set out a plan Measure performance Review and refine the plan Remember: Understand the needs of your market Apply benchmarks / targets Be clear about your mission Set SMART objectives to achieve your mission Follow through with a plan of action

What Can Canadian Science Publishers Do …

The Circle of Growth Drive up content usage Raise publisher profile & author visibility Encourage author submissions Raise quality and volume of content Grow sales and revenue

Circle of Growth Drive up content usage Raise publisher profile & author visibility Encourage author submissions Raise quality and volume of content Grow sales and revenue

To Grow Readership & Usage Marketing and other techniques Use free content to profile topical content and best authors Focus on publishing topical content of good quality Prominently flag most popular and most cited content Create meaningful related content recommendations Provide alert and RSS options to drive repeat traffic Search engine optimization Social media (blogs…) Clear article title and abstract Get included in secondary services Monitor site analytics (visitor loyalty, bounce rate, conversion rate, entry / exit pages Business model Open access Wide sales distribution, multi-journal bundles, consortia

Circle of Growth Drive up content usage Raise publisher profile & author visibility Encourage author submissions Raise quality and volume of content Grow sales and revenue

To Raise Publisher Profile and Brand Attend conferences and exhibits Connect your journal brand to the publisher, e.g. ACS Nano Web presence Branding in all the appropriate places Journal cover Web site Sponsor events, lectures and awards Journal road show

Circle of Growth Drive up content usage Raise publisher profile & author visibility Encourage author submissions Raise quality and volume of content Grow sales and revenue

To Attract the Best Authors Increase your Impact Factor – see next slide Speed of publication Fast, fair rigorous, constructive peer review Make sure your editors publish in your journal Market the journal to authors and referees And market your authors… Cover image, podcast, interviews, media coverage Invite them! E.g. special issues, review articles

To Increase Impact Factor Get more citations to recent content Identify highly-cited papers in your journal Identify zero-cited papers Free access campaigns and consider increasing volume of open access content Publish more high quality and topical content Review articles and special issues Invite colleagues Make sure you tell people that you have published good stuff Target top cited people (e.g. from Web of Science, invited speakers, your own journal, competing journal authors) Speed of publication Online first Media promotion

To Manage an Efficient Editorial Office Have a well-defined workflow Understand who does what and when Have a clear mechanism on how to respond to authors (e.g. their questions and complaints) Use a software system to manage the workflow e.g. Editorial Manager, ScholarOne Well-trained professional staff Set targets for productivity and turn-round times (receipt to acceptance / publication times) Clear communication at each step of the process Thank your referees! Work closely with your editors and editorial board

To Shorten Publication Time Receipt to acceptance Set deadlines for referees, but… What happens if the referee report is late? Timely reminders to referees Set deadlines for authors to respond to referees comments Have a fast-track route to publication Invite an appropriate number of referees Choose more referees than you need at the initial point of assessing the manuscript Have a rapid “editorial rejection” channel

To Shorten Publication Time Acceptance to publication Go to an online first production model, article at a time production Post an accepted version of the manuscript immediately after acceptance Standardize workflow and processes Get rid of all unnecessary steps Set deadlines for all steps in the process e.g. Author proofs Manage your production vendor Increase frequency

Circle of Growth Drive up content usage Raise publisher profile & author visibility Encourage author submissions Raise quality and volume of content Grow sales and revenue

To Maintain the Quality of Peer Review Clear guidelines for authors and referees Clear acceptance / rejection criteria An adequate pool of experts / referees Use a mechanism to rate referees Recognize good referees Use a central database of referees Mentoring / training the next generation of referees Keep your referee database fresh – new recruits “Strategic” refereeing A fair appeals process Fair, constructive and rigorous

Circle of Growth Drive up content usage Raise publisher profile & author visibility Encourage author submissions Raise quality and volume of content Grow sales and revenue

Growing Sales and Revenue Business model Who gets access to what and how and at what price? Usage Pay attention to low use customers Turnaways Renewals process Marketing strategy Drive traffic Email newsletters Email marketing campaigns

Key Takeaways

Adopt a proactive development attitude Key Takeaways Target and commission the best authors Engage with your editorial board Speed up publication Provide a great user experience at every stage of the article lifecycle – from creation to consumption (workflow) Cultivate and nourish all your communities Take a strategic view Adopt a proactive development attitude

To Organize An Excellent International Editorial Team? Be aware of your market Where top research is done Top institutions, key people Editorial board needs to represent the global market for your subject Start inviting Personal contacts People who have already gained experience by working on an international journal Set out the role and expectations Hold an annual editorial board meeting