Journal Portfolio Strategies
On 27 March, the first webinar in the Inside Academic Publishing series took place, focusing on journal portfolio strategies. Over 100 participants gained insights into the workings of major academic publishers. Vicky Johnson, Senior Director of Portfolio Strategy at Wiley, opened the event with an overview of the key aspects of Wiley's journal portfolio. She highlighted the proportions of hybrid and gold OA publications, the research areas covered and the geographical origins of authors.
This was followed by a discussion on the role and function of journals in the digital age. The collaboration between a large publisher such as Wiley and the academic community, particularly with learned societies, was discussed, as well as the differences between in-house and peer-reviewed journals.
The Q&A session that followed focused on the challenges and opportunities of the Open Access transition. The question of how journals can move from a hybrid to a fully open access model was discussed intensively. It became clear that funding plays a central role, as transformative agreements often cover the costs of hybrid OA, but this is not necessarily the case for gold OA journals. Wiley must therefore ensure that authors are not lost in the transition to Gold Open Access.
The event was found to be informative and participants expressed interest in further webinars in the "Inside" series.