The scholarly publishing system tends to be dominated by large corporate publishers that publish the majority share of academic research. However, small publishers play a vital role in scholarly communication by offering essential channels of communication for, in particular, disciplines and academics with specific regional, cultural, linguistic, or thematic foci. This crucial bibliodiversity provided by small publishers facilitates richness in academic discourse by enabling participation by diverse actors with diverse ideas and fosters academic progress. Recently, the scholarly publishing system has begun to move toward more open accessibility of research material. However, small publishers face unique challenges in innovation and dissemination during this transition.
The Task & Finish Group for “Small Publishers and the Transition to Open Access” of Knowledge Exchange, advised and supported by the Knowledge Exchange office, commissioned this study to understand the landscape of small journal publishers in six European countries in the context of the transition to open access. This empirical investigation uses a diverse array of bibliographic data sources to examine the number and characteristics of small journal publishers and contrast those publishers that have and have not begun the transition to OA. The study supports the T&F group in making evidence-based recommendations to actors in the scholarly publishing system to sustain the bibliodiversity offered by small publishers during the transition to OA.
