By Edward Nawotka

Yes, it’s a huge question. But the general consensus is the university and academic publishing models are broken. Under pressure from funding bodies to make enough money to be self-sustaining, many university presses have turned away from their core mission of publishing monographs and original research to publishing trade-oriented titles (with mixed results). Those that have stuck with the traditional models often have a massive backlog of manuscripts under contract, which is frustrating to authors (who depend on those publications when applying for tenure) and, in turn, the publishers themselves.

Open access, as discussed in our lead story today, has made the situation even more complicated, as the demand rises for publishers to produce work that cannot be sold, as such.

So, going forward, what business models will work for academic publishing in the future?