The Association of University Presses (AUPresses) continues to collect and disseminate essential information on our sector of the scholarly communications industry. The Annual University Press Operating Statistics Report for 2020-2023 was completed and shared with participating presses and the member community in March 2024; and the longstanding Quarterly Sales Comparison Reports have continued. These statistical programs are carried out by a confidential agent, analyst Kimberly Schmelzinger.
The Biennial Compensation Survey collected 2022 data from North American Regular members, and the report and data tables were distributed in June 2023. Following through on the Board commitment to greater transparency in the Compensation Survey, a version of the report and data tables was prepared for the entire membership constituency in addition to versions distributed to press directors.
In September 2023, AUPresses and Ithaka S+R published “Print Revenue and Open Access Monographs: A University Press Study.” This report was the product of a National Endowment for the Humanities grant awarded to AUPresses to study the impact of OA editions on print sales of scholarly books. Co-PIs John Sherer (North Carolina) and Erich Van Rijn (California), and study team members including staff representative Brenna McLaughlin and Ithaka S+R research consultants Laura Brown and Roger Schonfeld presented the results at the 2023 OASPA conference, the virtual Charleston Conference program, an AUPresses webinar hosted during OA Week 2023, and in a Scholarly Kitchen blog post. AUPresses has posted the date from this study on the Humanities/UP Commons open repository.
The AUPresses community was invited to take part in two important industry surveys in spring/summer 2023:
- The Lee & Low Diversity Baseline Survey 3.0, which surveys the demographic representation of the North American publishing industry.
- The C4DISC Workplace Equity survey, which seeks to understand both the demographics and workplace cultures of the global scholarly publishing community.
After a 2022 hiatus, the Biennial Press Reporting Structures snapshot was compiled and reported to members once more in Winter 2024. This valuable intelligence sharing report shows member presses where they and their colleagues are placed within home institution’s structures, and includes trends over time and key reporting details so that peers may discuss organizational similarities.
Several data collection projects are under development, including phased-in directory information collection, a benchmark committee demographics survey, the second iteration of the Editorial Board Survey, and an effort to collect information about the kinds of AI technology and policies used by member presses.