ALPSP: a guiding light

Scholarly publishing operates in an increasingly challenging environment. The publishing industry has been at the vanguard of the digital revolution and has been responsible for remarkable innovation, particularly in the past ten years during which time we have invested heavily in new technologies. We have been entrepreneurial and our business is a success, delivering more high-quality content to more users than ever before. So it is saddening to see us all too often cast as Luddites. Clearly there is much more to be done to ensure that the publishing industry is better understood and valued by all stakeholders. I have spent the best part of a decade and a half working for society publishers, most recently at the Royal Society in London. When I joined, its publishing activity was already successful; it was, and is, a well-run operation with intelligent, committed and hard-working staff. Nonetheless, as a smallish publisher it was a challenge to keep abreast of all of the changes in technology, legislation and the various initiatives coming from inside and outside the industry. It is interesting to note that, according to a recent study,1 97% of society publishers have three or fewer journals and 90% have just one. These journals are often high quality, but it can be difficult for them to be visible in the marketplace. Learned and professional society publishers have considerable support among academics and other members of the scholarly communication chain and therefore may be best placed to take advantage of the opportunities that these changing times will create; but it can be hard for them to know which initiatives to be involved in and how to adapt – and smaller publishers do not always have the resources to be able to take on high levels of risk. They need organisations like ALPSP to help them. No one can dispute that ALPSP is going from strength to strength. My predecessor, Sally Morris, has had phenomenal success in raising the profile of the organization and increasing our influence. In doing so, she has built an effective organization that makes the most of its resources to support and represent our members and that is well respected among stakeholders throughout the world. Sally is indeed a very hard act to follow and her numerous achievements can be summed up by the fact that under her leadership the membership has trebled. I am delighted that Sally’s association with ALPSP will continue as she takes over the Editorship of Learned Publishing. Our membership continues to grow: we now have more than 360 members in over 40 countries who collectively publish more than 10,000 journals – around half the world’s total – as well as books, databases and other resources. The Association has been doing so well, in fact, that as the incoming CEO I have the luxury of having no major problems to address and certainly see no need for a drastic change in direction; but every organization can improve! ALPSP has a fantastic foundation on which to build but there is still much to do and much that I wish to achieve. By focusing our efforts on delivering real value, we hope to continue to grow our membership base, and thus the authority with which we can speak for the sector. As a truly international organization it is important that we think and act internationally and much of our future growth will come from outside the UK. Building on the success already seen with the initiation of local groups – Chapters – in North America and Australia will be a priority. Representing the long tail of smaller publishers who have neither the time nor resources to represent themselves directly will Guest Editorial 3