1. Journal tendering for societies: A brief guide Prepared by the Association for Learning Technology (ALT) with support from JISC

2. Aims of the project Work being done by the Association for Learning Technology (ALT) Where the guide touches on “open access” business models, then it is in association with the UK Open Access Implementation Group Addressing the problems faced by societies tendering for journal publishing services – whether and how to: renegotiate or go out to tender change the business model of the journal use an external publisher for the first time Preparation of a guide based on the experience from a real tendering process by ALT for their journal.

3. Background In their negotiations with publishers learned societies – especially smaller ones – may have difficulty articulating their requirements, and assessing the publishers’ offerings This is true where they wish to compare the newer models with typical “conventional” models, or simply compare different conventional offerings. The reasons are complex and include: lack of knowledge of the publishing industry on the part of the society’s executive staff (who cannot always find the time to acquire the knowledge); lack of time and capacity from society executive staff, and lack of opportunity to share experiences and learn from those of others; while the “author/research funder pays” business model is becoming more prevalent in STEM, it appears rather less feasible in other domains.

4. Procuring a new publication agreement: issues to consider before you start Your current publishing contract and its renewal date The role of the journal in relation to the society Disposition or appetite of the society, staff, the board, and the editors Why are you doing this? Beneficiaries of revenue from the journal Esteem and impact of the journal

5. Deciding to move to Open Access publishing: practical considerations Open Access publishing: an overview Business models Dependence on royalty income Policy and preferences of the society Perspectives of the editors Views of the editorial board Attitudes of authors Financial considerations: “funder/author pays” versus “society pays”

6. The procurement process Preparing to issue the RFP The selection process Following up the decision to change publisher and/or publishing model A template Request for Proposals A framework for scoring proposals

7. Next steps Peer review (done) Release: repository.alt.ac.uk/887/# Seek any comments you may have on the draft paper Discussions at JISC Electronic Information Resources Working Group and with ALPSP Final agreed version to be distributed to mailing list of societies, ACSS, Foundation for Science and Technology, others? Probably jointly with the JISC Collections “Society Journals Transferring Between Publishers” Case study in transitioning to Open Access, due Dec 2011