STM publishing Collection

This article is part two of our Author Experience (AX) series, where we anchor the concept of AX more concretely. We present our model for working towards AX maturity: positive author perceptions that translate to increased article submission, resubmission, and referral. As organizations advance the six pillars outlined in this article, they progress their AX maturity and set themselves up for success in today’s evolving publishing landscape.

Plan S implementation guidance has not provided reassurance to anxious society publishers. The stated aim of Plan S is to achieve “full and immediate Open Access to publications from publicly funded research,” but the prohibition against publishing in hybrid journals is not needed to accomplish that aim.

For all the talk of disruption, scientific publishing in fact has not been disrupted. The reasons for this are rooted in the culture of scientific communication and the functions of scientific journals—functions that have developed over hundreds of years. Those predicting seismic changes to the business of journal publishing because of advances in communication technology have been consistently frustrated. The World Wide Web itself was designed explicitly to disrupt scientific publishing, and yet here we are.