Publishing is an uphill battle. Whether you’re trying to address a niche audience or looking to enter a broad market, competition can be stiff. Financial barriers can also make it difficult for small journals to get ahead. That doesn’t mean breaking into the industry is impossible, and it certainly doesn’t mean your small journal doesn’t have a necessary point of view. You just need the best strategy and tools at your disposal to give you and your team the best chance at success.
Types of Academic Publishing
Before diving into the nitty-gritty of growing your journal, we should first identify the different kinds of academic publishing. There’s traditional, which usually focuses on printed media and relies on a legacy status. And then there’s open access, which refers to free-to-all online platforms and publications. Traditional publications require their readers to pay, whether by purchasing a copy of the journal outright or a rolling subscription. Open access, on the other hand, means that research is freely accessible, regardless of one’s location or financial situation. There are various types of open access. These include gold open access, which requires an article processing charge, paid for by the author or their institution. Their work is then hosted online. Diamond open access, another form of open access, is where academic institutions and supporting organizations host research without authors or readers paying fees.
Small- and medium-sized publishers can operate in either publishing realm, traditional or open access. Recently, and to compete with large companies, many publishers have aimed to develop an open access publication.
So, where do we begin?
How small- and medium-sized journals can get started
It’s important as a small- or medium-sized journal to choose a niche subject. Not only will you be able to tap into a market larger companies can’t access—since they’re trying to appeal to a broad market, with a wide range of interests, backgrounds, and needs—you’ll also be able to build a more stable foundation. Offering a platform that is specific, fills a gap, and gives academics the opportunity to share their work in an emerging space can drum up excitement. It also ensures that you can tailor your marketing and products to a knowable audience. Adding to that, having a niche journal topic allows you to attract experts and team members more effectively. Their unique skillset may not be valuable in larger settings, but they’ll bring authority to your publication.
Predicting problems for small- and medium-sized journals
It’s never too early to plan for problems. You can’t run a journal without having a rough idea of how much it’s all going to cost, issues included. Common challenges journals face early on include issues with ethics and reviewer conduct. Inexperienced team members may need time to learn the rules. When working in online spaces, technical problems are also a concern. Between the digital tools staff use for processes, data management, and the journal itself, there’s lots of opportunity for technology to cause headaches.
There are a few ways to solve these problems:
- Have systems that staff are trained on before problems occur. A reviewer broke their NDA and reached out to an author? Have a plan already in place. What’s the chain of command? Is there an email template that can be drafted? How are other companies handling these situations, and which of their steps can you adopt? When everyone knows what they’re doing, or knows what to do should the worst-case scenario happen, less time and money will be wasted trying to put out the fire. Your staff will also feel more confident when it comes to solving problems, which means you won’t have to manage them as closely once it’s time to start growing your business.
- Make use of team management software. Investing in low-cost or free systems will allow you to track your workers’ progress and problems, allowing you to see where people are stumbling and where improvements can be made. You can’t get better if you don’t know what’s going on. Team management is a skill that doesn’t perfect itself overnight, and using tools to make your growth easier will only benefit you and your team in the long-run.
Make every dollar count
While journals may wish that investors would throw buckets of money at them, that doesn’t usually happen. But that doesn’t mean you can’t make do with the money that you do have, even if it doesn’t match what your competitors are working with. Being smart with your money is valuable.
Word-of-mouth can help you gain some traction, but it’s not going to push you to the top. Knowing your audience is knowing what social media platforms they use, what pages they follow, and what they’re searching for online. In terms of free advertising, be strategic about what social media accounts you create and where, when, and what you post. Attend conferences in your area, and make content you can publish on your own. After all, academics and publishing companies need an online presence, too.
Another thing that can only get you so far are Pen-and-paper systems, such as Excel spreadsheets. You might use these initially to help you process everything from journal submissions to data collection. But, that doesn’t mean that great tools have to cost money. In fact, there are free submission systems that can help you streamline your processes. And the sooner you switch to a dedicated journal management system, the better.
Using affordable (or free) journal management systems can give you a professional edge. And having a reliable system that scales alongside your journal means you don’t have to gamble on trying new tools as you expand. Your journal will keep running, even when your submissions triple.
Growing the business
With all your tools in place, your next task is to be on the look-out for the perfect time to scale up. Are you having a hard time keeping up with submissions and demands? Is your staff feeling stressed because of the workloads? And, importantly, do you see paths within your niche that you can branch into? Once you’ve developed a relationship with scholars and readers alike, adding new topics and services to your journal may come naturally. Investing in automation systems, like JAMS, frees up time to continue growing your business and thinking of new ideas.
Starting with a good foundation doesn’t have to come with a high price tag. But it does mean that you need to be able to scale quickly and efficiently without harming your team and standards in the process.
How small journals can compete with larger ones
Small- and medium-sized publishers may start out as underdogs, but they don’t have to stay that way. Using your new learned skills to succeed in business, you can grow your journal without it costing a fortune. Even traditional publishers had to start small and work their way up, so don’t let the long path ahead discourage you. Besides, when you break it down, the roadmap is simple: identify a niche you want to target, predict the challenges that may come with running a journal, create systems for both your staff and customers to follow, integrate affordable journal management systems into your business growth strategy, and scale-up when the timing is right.
There’s a place for your voice in the academic publishing landscape, so let JAMS help.