Non-profit collaboration, collective impact, and innovation in scholarly publishing: Insights from Lauren Kane

The scholarly publishing landscape thrives on innovation, collaboration, and mission-driven approaches. Drawing from decades of experience, Lauren Kane, CEO of BioOne, joins host, President, Global Academic & Publisher Relations, CACTUS, on an episode of the Insights Xchange podcast to share her insights into navigating challenges unique to nonprofit publishing, embracing collective impact models, and the importance of evolving together as an industry to balance sustainability, accessibility, and equity. 

Nonprofit publishing in a competitive landscape 

Over the last two decades, the scholarly publishing landscape has experienced significant compression, leading to reduced resources and increasingly tighter budgets. Concurrently, user demands have shifted, resulting in greater research needs and an emphasis on accessibility that transcends traditional article formats. The scarcity of resources is particularly pronounced for nonprofits and smaller organizations. But on a brighter note, these market pressures have spurred innovation. The necessity of addressing limited resources alongside rising demand compels organizations to adapt their approaches and foster collaboration. Dr. Lauren highlights, “The single biggest thing that I think we're seeing now and that I think we're going to continue to see in the future is this understanding that we can't kind of make the change we need to make alone and that we're going to need to collaborate. So, for BioOne specifically, that's something that's very much in our DNA, and we are an aggregate, we are a collaborative.”  

Nonprofits like BioOne bring mission-driven goals to the forefront, focusing on innovation and agility in the face of slim budgets and resource constraints. Nonprofit publishers face distinctive challenges and opportunities compared to their for-profit counterparts. While only a handful of affluent nonprofit publishers boast substantial endowments, most nonprofit publishers operate with fewer resources than for-profit organizations. However, this reality can be a dual opportunity, allowing nonprofit organizations to be more nimble than for-profit publishers. It offers the ability to quickly adapt and drive innovation without the pressure of shareholder returns. This freedom often empowers them to explore bold, creative ventures that push the boundaries of within the scholarly publishing industry. 

Moreover, resource limitations in the nonprofit sector can foster more collaboration and collective efforts to maximize impact and share resources effectively. Lauren also emphasizes the importance of the sense of community within the industry, “It's such a privilege to work in this community and with these other kind of just fantastic leaders and innovators. And so, I think for that too, it really is a privilege to work with these people, to collaborate with these people and try to make things better, not just for the organizations that we directly work for, but also thinking again about this kind of community overall.” Looking ahead to the future of nonprofit collaborations in scholarly communication, with so many examples of innovative partnerships emerging, the outlook is incredibly promising. We can expect to see an increase in mergers and acquisitions, even within nonprofits. This shift will not only lead to greater efficiencies and cost savings but also amplify their overall impact. 

Don’t miss the full conversation: Listen now! 

Collective impact models in scholarly publishing 

Collective impact models embody the powerful notion that we can achieve far more together than we can individually, regardless of the size of the group. As a strong advocate for these models, Lauren highlights the importance of economic frameworks that facilitate collective action. One of the prominent examples of such a model is the Subscribe to Open (S2O) model, which BioOne plans to pilot in 2026. While S2O isn't a universal fix, it exemplifies innovative thinking around collective impact, demonstrating how publishers and journals can collaborate to meet open access objectives while ensuring financial sustainability. Importantly, it also integrates libraries and users into the conversation. Collective impact models also create the push for designing business and distribution models that align with these collective goals—a challenge that is as exhilarating as it is complex, yet ultimately necessary for fostering a thriving scholarly environment. 

Lauren reflects on her fulfilling experiences collaborating on collective impact initiatives, exemplifying the strength of collective growth, the sharing of best practices, and community-focused strategies to propel the scholarly publishing industry forward. Addressing the assessment metrics in such models, Lauren acknowledges its inherent challenges. We often rely on traditional quantitative measures like savings, earnings, usage, and reach. However, there’s also the need to consider qualitative methods for evaluating success in communicating science to a broader audience. While incorporating metrics is crucial for determining the collective impact, optimum ways to evaluate these factors are still under development. 

Curious to know more? Catch the episode here! 

Innovation and leadership in an evolving industry 

With extensive experience in crafting sustainable strategies, Lauren underscores the importance of aligning sustainability with the rising demand for open access in publishing. She asserts, "I think one of the things that we need to stop doing, you know, is this idea that sustainability and equitability have to be at cross purposes." For instance, the S2O model has demonstrated that these goals are not mutually exclusive; in fact, when they are integrated, they create significant impact. BioOne's commitment to the S2O model stems from a genuine desire to embrace open access while ensuring equitable opportunities. APC-based approaches may address user equity, but they fail to tackle the inequities faced by authors. Lauren emphasizes, "We are here to provide an increase in access. We are here to be as equitable as possible to ensure bibliodiversity and diversity in the communities that we serve. So, making sure that the solutions that we pursue and the strategies we pursue keep that in mind, I think is imperative." 

Sharing her thoughts on the transformative potential of AI on the publishing landscape, Lauren notes, "One of the things that I on a positive level, like to look at AI about or hope that AI will produce is really that it has the potential to be an equalizer." Many tools and resources that enhance scientific communication—such as lay summaries, automated tagging, and multilingual accessibility—have been cost-prohibitive due to their manual nature. The prospect of Al making these technologies more affordable and easier to implement could be a powerful equalizing force that contributes to the democratization of science. 

Explore more of Lauren Kane’s thoughts on the future of scholarly publishing: unlock the full conversation now! 

Embracing these changes in the publishing industry calls for stakeholders who recognize both the challenges and opportunities. With years of experience navigating the complexities of the scholarly publishing industry, Lauren shares her valuable insights and transformative lessons, "The most important lesson I've learned is recognizing when to lead and when to follow. This is a continuous journey for me, both personally and organizationally." Instead of reinventing the wheel when others have paved the way, Lauren suggests the focus should be on collaborating and leveraging one’s unique strengths—encouraging leadership that balances visionary thinking with a willingness to experiment and adapt to new advancements.