Scholarly Publishing Innovations and Evolution: The Perspective of a Small

Non-Profit Publisher

Crispin Taylor, PhD Executive Director AAAS Annual Meeting Chicago, IL February 14, 2014

Overview Introduction to ASPB and its publications Open Access: opportunity or threat? Joining the CHORUS Reinventing ASPB’s business model

Overview Introduction to ASPB and its publications Open Access: opportunity or threat? Joining the CHORUS Reinventing ASPB’s business model

Publications Membership Programs Meetings Education and Outreach (FSD booth 1207) Science Policy/Advocacy

Introduction to ASPB

Publications Membership Programs Meetings Education and Outreach Science Policy/Advocacy

Introduction to ASPB

Publications Membership Programs Meetings Education and Outreach Science Policy/Advocacy

Introduction to ASPB

Publications Two highly ranked scholarly journals Subsidized free access journal Textbooks (in partnership with commercial

co-publisher) Innovative Educational Products Teaching Tools in Plant Biology My Life as a Plant

ASPB’s Journals

Not, strictly speaking “Open Access”. But… Very liberal re-use rights, including for TDM Available through PMC at 12 months since 2003 Included in Research4Life project ASPB retains copyright

ASPB’s Journals

Recent innovations Member-based free access Utopia docs pdf reader Connecting to databases Participation in CHORUS

Overview Introduction to ASPB and its publications Open Access: opportunity or threat? Joining the CHORUS Reinventing ASPB’s business model

Open Access: Opportunity or Threat?

New fiscal structures plausible in digital publishing landscape

Open Access advocacy imposes a potent selective pressure

ASPB (and its business models) are evolving, but We need time and space in which to innovate Imposed OA mandates constrain that space

Open Access: Opportunity or Threat?

The shared goals of increased public access:

Expand access and broaden use of all scholarly publications

Identify pragmatic, cost-effective path forward involving all stakeholders (researchers, research institutions, librarians, funding agencies, the public)

Overview Introduction to ASPB and its publications Open Access: opportunity or threat? Joining the CHORUS Reinventing ASPB’s business model

Joining CHORUS Clearing House for the Open Research of the United States

CHORUSaccess.org

The CHORUS Collaboration A partnership among publishers and federal agencies for providing public access to peer-reviewed publications that report on federally funded research

CHORUSaccess.org

The CHORUS Project A multi-agency, multi-publisher portal and information bridge that identifies, provides access, enhances search capabilities and long-term preservation to journal articles resulting from agency funding 100+ Supporting Publishers (as of 2/10/14) CrossRef is an important service provider CHORUS is funded by publishers belonging to

the CHORUS Collaboration

Joining CHORUS Clearing House for the Open Research of the United States

CHORUSaccess.org

CHORUS Project Goals Provide public access to manuscripts/articles

reporting on federally funded research Goal furthered by underlying open-technology

platform Leverage existing infrastructure and investment of

the agencies and publishers CHORUS is built upon strong

protocols/partnerships, including CrossRef, FundRef, Prospect, CLOCKSS, Portico, ORCID

CHORUSaccess.org

CHORUS Project Goals Ensure compliance and archival preservation

Preserve agency funds for mission critical

activities/programs There is no significant cost for agency use or

participation

Provide for international scalability

Overview Introduction to ASPB and its publications Open Access: opportunity or threat? Joining the CHORUS Reinventing ASPB’s business model

B

D A

C C

RELEVANCE

RENEWAL

RESILIENCE

DANGER ZONE

Courtesy of Jeff De Cagna, Principled Innovation, LLC

The Sigmoid Curve of Business Success

TIME

First Steps Engaging human-centered design firm Direct interviews with plant scientists Surveys Hands-on workshops involving leadership

IDEO’s Innovation Process

First Steps Engaging human-centered design firm Direct interviews with plant scientists Surveys Hands-on workshops involving leadership

Output: A dozen customer-focused digital “concepts” Descriptions of potential products Business “sketches” depicting start up costs

and revenue potential

Ongoing Project briefs, budgets and business cases Recruitment of key partners Data strategy Design and development Business

Organizational engineering Identify gaps and make key hires Ensure ASPB staff “machine” is appropriately

tuned

Next Steps Continued organizational change Strong, effective, and focused leadership team Clarity and efficiency

Customer/member engagement Digital Future User Group Involving/informing elected leaders Iterative development

Just do it! Initial releases in summer 2014

Publications Member Programs Meetings Education and Outreach Science Policy/Advocacy

Where We Are Headed