This is the third academic publishing report that Deanta have conducted in the last four years (our missing year was 2020 for obvious reasons). We have three distinct aims when creating these reports. The first is a Self-interested motivation to ensure that Deanta has an in-depth understanding of the academic publishing market, based on data, not simply our intuition. The second aim is to enable Deanta to be part of a wider conversation within academic publishing. Final aim is to support academic publishers by sharing information about their industry.

We asked academic publishers 31 questions. The full report extends to 22 pages. Here is a selection of our key findings.

Thank you everyone who contributed to this report, we hope you find it useful.

Outcomes

We asked publishers to share the business outcomes they are targeting in 2022 and beyond.

  • Confidence in the industry remains high but publishers are experiencing “uncertainty of revenue” with Digital and OA revenues accelerating whilst physical book sales are in steep decline.
  • Digital transformation was the number one business priority, although 30% claimed that ‘developing a clear strategy in a complex world’ was holding them back.

People

We invited publishers to share how they are marshalling their talent base and recruiting new skills to get the job done.

  • The conservative nature of academic publishing was reenforced with 40% of publishers agreeing that “change happens slowly here; we have a well-established way of working”.
  • Only 35% claimed that hybrid working is having a positive impact on their performance

Processes

We invited publishers to share how they are managing their work and the technologies that they employ.

  • The technological divide between books and journals publishers is wider than ever
  • 90% of publishers were still suggesting that “modernising production workflows should be a business priority”.

To find out more download the full survey below.