Strategic Planning to Launch an Open Access Journal American Academy of Neurology (AAN) Neurology Journals Patricia K. Baskin, MS Executive Editor Neurology Journals pbaskin@neurology.org Flagship Journal in Neurology The most widely read and highly cited peer-reviewed neurology journal Published weekly by the AAN Circulation > 28,000 IF = 8.303 64 years of publication Neurology: Clinical Practice AAN s peer-reviewed journal providing clinical, office, and health policy reviews for practicing neurologists Key Metrics Day-to-day needs Published 6 times per year Circulation ~ 26,000 3 ½ years of publication 1
Neurology: Neuroimmunology & Neuroinflammation Online-only, open access, continuous publication Compile issues 6/year Neurology: Genetics Online-only, open access, continuous publication Neurology Strategic Plan Elements Leadership among neurology and other specialty journals in quality & presentation of scientific/medical information Increased outreach to international neurologists Reach new audiences in basic science areas related to neurologic disease Expand our portfolio to subspecialities in neurology Work with publisher to develop new sustainable business models for publishing Work with the parent society, the American Academy of Neurology (AAN), to align goals 2
Strategic Planning: Re-imagining the Journal Editorial initiative/goals to create more content Fill niches for neurologists in subspecialties Use submitted papers turning away for lack of pages Take advantage of advertising/drug development Take advantage of topic areas well-funded for OA Use electronic media to expand reach Began with strategy planning to prioritize content (participants from AAN, WK, staff, invited speakers) Several follow-up retreats for planned spin-offs Strategic Goal: Launch an Open Access Journal Opportunities Shared goals with AAN o Favorable ROI author pay (complying with funder mandates), considering well-funded areas of research, advertising o Benefit to members and community wide dissemination of content more value & authority to society o Benefit to researchers fast review, posting, OA, earlier citations o Obtain new members with added visibility/reach o Obtain additional readership for AAN journals Beyond print o Web o App for ipad o Mobile Web Strategic Goal: Launch an Open Access Journal Challenges Membership benefits (Should extra content be added?) New business model consideration (Will it work? What if ads go away? Which authors have funding? Will WK agree?) Will an OA journal be considered second tier? Impact factor & PubMed listing: These take time. Will authors submit without these? Funder mandates: Needed to comply to get submissions needed Gold OA or would be posting free on PMC Legal issues: Copyright and understanding CC licensing Branding issues: Will we dilute brand? Strengthen it? 3
Action Planning as Part of Yearly Goals Buy-in Publisher/Editorial teams draft business plan, content justification (with bibliometrics research, SWOT, editorial expenses, competitive analysis in OA space, funder mandates) Review of BP and go-ahead from editor, business development officer, Executive staff, CEO, BOD Input from society Cover & interior design for consistent branding Title & logo Marketing department to align with other marketing Legal team (LTP forms, copyright revisions) Legal collaboration writing agreement with publisher Action Planning as Part of Yearly Goals Timeline Final Approvals o EIC/staff o Executive staff/ceo o Legal including final contract o BOD approval of agreement Editorial & staff o Editor/staff selection o Operational meetings o Content planning call for papers o Platform planning/development display & tracking o Revise copyright document, create license to publish, IFA changes, FAQ ~ Gold & Green OA o Setting up system for payment o Target: annual meeting launch promotional opportunity Epilogue Launched at annual meeting in 2014 Listed in PubMed fall 2014 Did it all again! Launched a 2 nd OA journal annual meeting 2015 4
Epilogue Focus group held at recent annual meeting o No problems with branded OA journal o No problems with listing in PMC, not Medline o Controversy about payment for papers originally submitted to Neurology o Objections to paying even if submitting directly to the OA journal because $$$ not included in grants o Compared to PLOS & other OA journals Need member discounts, low-income country discounts? Need to explain to authors what the OA fees pay for - actual pub costs, lack of reprint sales, rigorous review by flagship journal in the field 5