Academic publishing, like most industries, is dominated by the more established players. As a small academic journal entering the scene, it can be intimidating to come up against the big publishers. They set the pace of publishing, control a big share of the market and output, and consistently attract new authors.
Yet there are ways to compete with this dominance. We’ll go over differentiation strategies, such as offering specialized focus, faster reviews, and author relationships, as well as how to leverage agility and personal touch as competitive advantages.
Scholarly publishing: how certain publishers dominate
The big publishers come to establish themselves by certain methods. These methods involve building effective partnerships with institutions and organizations, ensuring access to vast resources through acquisition and strategic positioning, and consolidating the market by producing popular and financially successful publishing outputs and drawing more authors.
In a study of market consolidation within academic publishing from 2000–2022, it was found that the top 5 publishers held 39% of the market of articles in 2000, with this figure having risen significantly to 61% by 2022. It’s very significant that just 5 publishers were found to hold control over half of the academic publishing market. Especially with thousands of academic journals out there.
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Differentiation strategies for small academic journals
Within such a consolidated, and in some areas oversaturated, market, how can a small academic journal arriving on the scene establish themselves? Luckily, there are certain strategies you can employ to differentiate yourselves from the big competition.
Offer specialized focus
Big academic publishers who acquire a lot of journals specializing in lots of different fields are often trying to appeal to as much of the market as possible. Yet this approach doesn’t necessarily establish a unique identity or niche for their business.
As a small academic journal, you are freer to offer a more specialized focus. This might involve only publishing articles that relate to a small research area, such as the study of how diseases spread in populations (epidemiology). Indeed, this publishing output may only appeal to a limited number of researchers or readers. But what you’re doing is building an identifiable brand. If you set yourself apart in your specialized focus, then you’ll attract the best researchers working in that particular field, improving your academic journal’s submission and publication quality.
Utilize faster review speeds
Many factors affect a journal’s speed performance. There are scale considerations, for example. These might concern the publisher’s portfolio or size. Other considerations are journal-specific, such as poorly designed workflows or temporary staff shortages.
As a small academic journal, considerations of scale, especially at the beginning of your journey, usually aren’t a problem. If you can create a work environment where tasks can easily be delegated between members and workflows remain efficient, even with a smaller capacity, then take advantage of the fact that you can afford to be faster with the reviewing process. You’ll have a smaller portfolio with less submissions coming in to really focus on providing a quick yet comprehensive reviewing experience for authors.
Build strong author relationships
As a small academic journal, you’re probably not juggling lots of submissions and subsequent communication channels with authors.
Instead, focus on personal and frequent interactions with your smaller pool of authors and potential authors. Don’t forget that authors have taken the time to show an interest in your journal; it’s only right that you return that interest. Show genuine appreciation and concern when it comes to their submission. Can you go out of your way to build that strong author relationship? Do you know of an academic conference that may be suitable for their research? Can you offer personalized future submission guidance that would help elevate their submission?
These may seem like small things, but they go a long way in establishing genuine connection between a journal and author. And the stronger your author relationships, the more likely it is that this positive communication style will attract other authors by word of mouth in the future.
Leveraging agility and personal touch as a small academic journal
Without a big portfolio or reputation, growth can be difficult as a small academic journal. But your limitations in terms of size and visibility leave you with more room to manoeuvre strategically in other areas.
Prioritize leveraging agility and personal touch when it comes to interacting with potential authors. As a small academic journal, it’s more than likely that in the initial stages you won’t be encumbered by tight submission deadlines and busy workflows. Use this extra freedom to your advantage. Connect with authors, regularly and quickly; keep them in the loop; give them advice where possible. All successes for a journal can be traced back to the smallest gestures at the beginning.