New Directions: Consolidation, Competition, and Cooperation

As the long tail of smaller publishers shortens, new entrants and partnerships are on the rise, plus new competitive dynamics are reshaping our industry. This panel brings together the perspectives of an information scientist, a marketing director, and an industry expert who will discuss the cycle and barriers of a partnership, a bold, new coalition built on purpose above profit, and the consolidation happening in publishing/technology and its impact on competition today. The panel will address problems in common that scholarly communication stakeholders face and would be better solved through partnerships, and the barriers to consolidating these partnerships due to challenges such as power imbalance, conflicts of interest, and competition.

Consolidation, Competition, and Cooperation

Publication Date

October 2024

New Directions 2024 | From Trends to Tactics: Shaping Scholarly Publishing’s Near Future

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When we ponder what new directions lie ahead for the scholarly communications and publishing industry, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by predictions of radical change and dire risks that won’t be realized for decades into the future. Funding models are being transformed, digital publishing programs are evolving, and user expectations are diversifying. For strategic and pragmatic purposes, this year’s New Directions Seminar will focus on understanding today’s trends and considering their near-term impacts and implications. Instead of prognosticating what a total overhaul of our industry might encompass for future generations, our goal is to generate actionable insights and practical ideas we can use to address the realities of the next <5 years.

Janaynne do Amaral

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Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Jon Gurstelle

2

Senior Director, Publications, American Political Science Association

Laura Ricci

1

Senior Consultant, Clarke & Esposito

Meredith Lemasurier

1

SVP, Editorial Development, Taylor and Francis

Sara Rouhi

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Director of Open Science and Publishing Innovation, AIP

Sara Rouhi is the new Director of Open Science and Publishing Innovation, reporting to Chief Publishing Officer, Penelope Lewis. Rouhi is charged with developing new publishing models and sustainable business strategies to accelerate AIPP’s mission to advance open, equitable research communication and empower researchers to accelerate global progress. Sara joins AIP Publishing from Public Library of Science (PLOS) where she was Regional Director, Publishing Development, The Americas. In this role she focused on engaging with high-level stakeholders, including funders, policymakers, and institutional leaders in local scholarly communication ecosystems. Before this role she built up PLOS’ institutional business models and partnership base as Director of Strategic Partnerships, launching three new, non-APC business models (including the 2021 ALPSP Innovation in Publishing award winner, Community Action Publishing) and implemented over 200+ partnerships globally. Sara is active in the scholarly communications community as a volunteer and thought leader, speaking frequently on open access, equity in publishing, and diversity in scholarly communications. She is was Board Member for the Society of Scholarly Publishing (SSP) from 2022-204 and was the recipient of SSP’s Emerging Leader award in 2015. She is active in the Washington DC improv comedy scene with her troupe Sistine Robot and she tweets/bleets @RouhiRoo and @RouhiRoo.bsky.social.