Publishing’s Next Top Model: measuring success of new business models

For decades, publishers have relied on Article Processing Charges (APCs) to fund Open Access (OA) scholarship. However, this method has been criticized as creating unequal opportunities to participate in OA publishing. In response, many publishers have introduced new business models in an attempt to both widen access to OA publishing for all researchers, and to diversify their revenue streams.

In a mixed-model economy there will inevitably be solutions that are more successful than others, but how should we approach measuring success when there are so many different motivations at playü

Success with these new models will look different depending on the outcome that the publisher is hoping to achieve. For a ‘pay-as-you-publish’ type of model, “success” is to receive sufficient revenue to cover cost and make a profit. But what if the primary motivation for the model is to make publishing more equitable for authors, regardless of their funding situationü This challenge pushes publishers to assess the usefulness of their standard metrics, to generate new metrics, and to be willing to adjust if the information is insufficient.

In order to explore these themes this poster presents four different business models from PLOS; APCs, Community Action Publishing, Global Equity, and a flat payment model. Each model has a different motivation, different measures of success, and different challenges. We hope to open a conversation around the challenges of measuring success, and share lessons learned with other organisations looking to make the leap of launching a new model.