US Medical Society Publishing: Editorial Management & Business Issues Survey Findings

["Nawin Gupta" <nawin@nawingupta.com>]

Dear Colleagues,

Informed Publishing Solutions and Henrichs & Associates have 
released findings of a Publishing Business Survey they conducted 
for the American Association of Medical Society Executives. 
Sample for the survey included 65 medical specialty societies and 
51 state medical societies in the US. The survey addressed issues 
covering:

*Business management and oversight
*Editorial selection, oversight, and compensation
*Business and editorial drivers - journal frequency, editorial 
pages,article submission volume, acceptance rates, circulation, 
and revenues

Some of the survey findings are:

--Over 70% of the societies publish a scholarly journal, with 20% 
of the societies reporting more than one journal.  About half of 
the journals make a positive monetary contribution, while the 
others lose money or barely break even.

--While all of the journals are published both in print and 
online, most societies have no plans to discontinue print in the 
foreseeable future.

--A slim majority of the societies manage publication of their 
journal without the services of a professional publishing 
company.

--Business oversight for the publishing business is typically 
provided by senior staff within the society.  On the other hand, 
the journal editors often do not report within the society staff 
structure.  Also, when it comes to editorial matters, oversight 
is mostly provided by the editor or the editorial board.

--Most of the journal editors serve in a part-time capacity; 
annual compensation for the editor's position ranges from less 
than $25,000 to over $300,000.

If you wish to receive a copy of the complete report, please send 
an e-mail to nawin@nawingupta.com.

ABOUT THE RESEARCHERS

Nawin Gupta is the principal consultant at Informed Publishing 
Solutions, Inc.  Nawin has a PhD in Mass Communications from the 
University of Iowa and a Masters in Journalism and Communications 
from the University of Florida. He has served in many volunteer 
positions in the publishing industry, including executive boards 
of the PSP Division of the Association of American Publishers, 
the International Association of STM Publishers, the Association 
of Medical Publishers, and CrossRef.  Nawin can be reached at 
773-623-9199 or nawin@nawingupta.com.

Kathleen R. Henrichs, PhD founded Henrichs & Associates after an 
18-year career at the American Medical Association, where she was 
a Senior Vice President. Dr. Henrichs partners with associations 
to achieve high levels of excellence through strategic planning, 
organizational development, interim executive management, and 
board development. As past Executive Director of the American 
Medical Association Foundation, Dr. Henrichs also advises on 
non-profit strategies and governance issues. She can be reached 
at 847-869-2562 or krhenrichs@msn.com.

Nawin Gupta
INFORMED PUBLISHING SOLUTIONS, INC.
Phone +1 773-623-9199 or +1 773-685-2007
nawin@nawingupta.com