The Society’s journals published 18% more articles in 2024 than in the previous year, significantly exceeding a target of 10% growth. This was driven by an increase in submissions, as more authors around the world choose the Society’s journals for their research. By publishing more article, the journals have achieved greater global impact: the BJP, the BJCP and PR&P were downloaded more in 2024 than any previous year.
With a higher quantity of material passing through peer review, the burden on our expert Editors and reviewers is greater, and average decision turnaround times are slower. As well as work to continue our growth in high-quality output, we are implementing additional processes to reduce peer review turnaround times, to ensure we give constructive, prompt feedback to all submitting authors, while respecting the time given by volunteer peer reviewers and members of our Editorial Boards.
Our Editors-in-Chief – Serge Cremers, Jennifer Martin and Péter Ferdinandy – have provided skilled leadership to our Editorial Boards through 2024, fostering an engaged and lively community. The BJP, the BJCP and PR&P benefit hugely from expert input from our Editors across the globe, who provide invaluable support. Our Senior Editors, in particular, give a large amount of time to the Society through their work on the journals, and the success of the journals is largely down to their efforts.
Although the increased article output has improved the financial position of the journals, we held discussions with our publishing partner, Wiley, throughout the year on long-term trajectories for income, scenarios for transition to full Open Access, and measures to reduce risk across the overall publishing portfolio. In an increasingly complicated and uncertain publishing landscape, our collaborative relationship with Wiley is essential for navigating the long-term success of the Society’s journals. More work is needed on financial modelling for Open Access business models, and on risk assessment around these scenarios; this will be conducted in 2025.
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