Interview
‘I got into surfing and chased waves all around the world – El Salvador, Indonesia, New Zealand’
or making basic things work better. For example, most publisher’s online search functions still offer bad user experiences. This is often because they haven’t really understood their specific researcher’s expectations and needs, and where the actual value lies in the content. They need to use these insights to develop a tailored search experience. If you can get that right, imagine the digital products publishers could provide with the complex, scientific facts and information! As for a change in pace… we live in a digital world now and tech advances fast. Scholarly has to catch up and stay agile. Users and competitors will continue to disrupt the market and dictate the change if they don’t.
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How do you see the industry landscape shifting over the next 10 years? Publishers have some soul-searching to do. I expect to see organisations having to undo a lot of the work and mindset that got them to where they are today. They need to unpick the past and this traditional mindset, and then use the best of what makes them valuable to unlock their digital future. Things like peer review, for example, is something really valuable that only the publisher can bring. How do you optimise that? We will also
see some rebranding and restructuring as more publishers become content technology and product companies. As part of that, the sector is likely to welcome people too, possibly with a non-publishing, more digital background, to shake things up and bring a blast of fresh air.
Are the days of the traditional academic publisher numbered? If they don’t move and figure out what’s valuable to their user now, then yes. Revenues for some traditional services are flat-lining or reducing – and that cannot continue indefinitely without some firms going under. OA is having a major impact
too, and undermines many publishers core business models, subscriptions etc. The big players such as Wiley and Elsevier won’t disappear for a while yet; but we can expect plenty of mergers, acquisitions and new ventures while they try things out. There are still opportunities for those medium players who are willing to commit to change; a company like British Medical Journal, with all of that rich healthcare content and user knowledge, can offer valuable products to users and keep (and grow) their market. But publishers who don’t pivot quickly are at risk.
Any final interesting facts you want to tell us about? I heard an interesting fact about the automotive sector recently, which is known for its commitment to innovation. Global sales of electric cars at present are just 2.6 per cent. But Mercedes-Benz has committed 100 per cent of its R&D expenditure to electric. Why? It can see where the future is going, and it doesn’t want to be left behind.
Interview by Tim Gillett
June/July 2021 Research Information 19
James Parascandola/
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