In academic and scholarly publishing, rapid changes brought about by technology and artificial intelligence (AI) are redefining how publishers operate, connect, and deliver content—presenting both unique challenges and newfound opportunities. At the London Book Fair's Academic and Professional Publishing Conference this year, industry leaders from Oxford University Press, Elsevier, and Edinburgh University Press joined Virtusales to share how they are adapting their strategies to thrive amid rapid industry change.
Here are the key takeaways for publishers:
Embrace Your Community
Community engagement emerged as a central theme across all presentations, with Nicola Ramsey emphasizing the importance of collaboration at every level within EUP, from staff involvement to author support and peer networking. In-house initiatives such as ECR advisory boards, buddy schemes, and Journal Editor Roundtables foster engagement with early career researchers and cultivate an environment of continuous learning and sharing. Additionally, EUP’s involvement in sector-wide projects like Even UP and Open UP enhance efforts for equality, diversity, and inclusion, amplifying the collective voice of university presses.
“These are just some of the ways that smaller university presses can come together to pool resources and knowledge. There are many challenges but we continue to seek out the opportunities and work with our university press counterparts when possible to navigate the currently choppy waters.” - Nicola Ramsey, CEO, Edinburgh University Press
Ramsey highlighted that from the perspective of EUP, a self-sustaining mid-sized publisher planning to release 350 books and 58 journals in the coming year, the role of the university press community is invaluable. It serves as an essential peer group, fostering idea exchange, advice sharing, and expertise crucial for smaller presses with limited resources. Collaborative efforts—such as joint presentations at industry events, cooperative sales visits, and participation in international book fairs, leveraging new channels through their distributor Ingram’s expanding business—have proven effective in enhancing EUP’s visibility and global reach.
Oxford University Press’ John Campbell echoed the sentiment, highlighting the need to clearly communicate research impacts to diverse audiences. He referenced OUP’s Sensus Impact initiative, which aims to establish standardized, shared infrastructures for reporting the impact of funded research publications, enabling university presses to tell their stories and demonstrate research contributions in a cohesive, meaningful way.
Top Tip Launch initiatives that unite your staff, authors, and the broader academic community to fuel innovation and leadership, and strengthen your ability to navigate market uncertainties.
Leverage AI and Technological Innovations
AI is not just a buzzword—it’s revolutionizing how publishers deliver educational content every day. As technology reshapes learning behaviors and requirements, publishers must quickly innovate and adapt to remain relevant. AI tools aid workflow efficiency and content delivery, enabling publishers to rapidly create tailored educational resources and personalized learning experiences that empower both students and instructors. Moreover, digitization caters to students’ preference for concise, readily-consumable resources.
Elsevier’s Madelene Hyde revealed a substantial surge in demand for content, stressing the urgency for publishers to swiftly adapt to technological changes to future-proof their business. In response to evolving student learning behaviors and the demand for accessible, concise digital content, Elsevier has combined print textbooks with ebooks, augmenting them with videos, assessments, and interactive features for more engaging and increasingly interactive learning experiences.
“Estimates suggest that medical information doubles every 73 days. [...] So that deluge of information that’s coming and changing learning behaviors means that students, frankly, do not want to read a book anymore. They don’t want to read on a whole topic, they consider it a waste of time, and we have to find different ways to be able to engage with them.” - Madelene Hyde, Vice President Global Medical Education and Local English Language Content, Elsevier
Hyde emphasized AI’s pivotal role in publishing, and the need to understand it while managing risks like inaccuracy, hallucinations, and bias. She explained Elsevier’s strategic use of machine translation, spatial computing, and big data analytics to broaden language accessibility and support personalized learning journeys, and noted that AI and data analytics can provide instructors with elevated insights into student performance.
“AI is here to stay so we have to look for opportunities that wouldn’t have been possible before. [...] At least 75% of students are using AI for summarization, workflow, efficiency—the same use cases that we’re looking at. But they are also starting to use it to create content, and that’s a trend that we ignore at our peril.” - Madelene Hyde, Elsevier
Campbell noted technology’s potential to streamline workflows, enhance product engagement, and transform teams. Targeted AI tools bolster high-trust, high-engagement platforms while preserving OUP’s core principles of baked-in trust, transparency, and quality amid technological evolution. And the use of AI overlays to bridge technology gaps, combining human input from leading authors, subject matter experts, and researchers with AI tools, enriches content delivery, facilitating feedback loops and enabling new service and channel development.
“At the heart of our approach is staying focused on our core principles. And actually, frankly, there’s nothing like an inflection point in terms of the shift of technology, the absolute centrality of trust, to really focus the mind.” - John Campbell, Product Strategy Director, Academic Division, Oxford University Press
OUP embeds AI across its operations to enhance and support workflows. This approach is integral for maximizing engagement on digital platforms, adapting traditional strengths to technological advancements, while also addressing privacy concerns and unauthorized use of copyrighted materials.
Ramsey too acknowledged AI’s significance, but urged caution in balancing its opportunities and challenges. She noted that while licensing and content training for large language models (LLMs) present revenue avenues, EUP’s size limits its negotiation capacity compared with larger presses. EUP’s policy advocates for AI-assisted but not AI-generated content, optimizing workflows while prioritizing author and staff perspectives.
“With AI, we’re looking at where we can find efficient workflows so that we can spend time on high value tasks. We’re developing a policy that will support AI assisted (but crucially not AI generated) content, and here we really want to emphasize our role as a provider of trusted information. We have academics and subject experts writing and reviewing our content, we’re not using AI for that.” - Nicola Ramsey, EUP
Top Tip Embrace AI and technological innovations to diversify your offerings and deliver tailored educational content that meets the evolving preferences of students and educators, while ensuring the accuracy and integrity of your resources.
Prioritize Accessibility and Compliance
As accessibility regulations continue to evolve globally, integrating features like text-to-speech and adjustable fonts in your digital products and platforms is not just a legal requirement but an opportunity to enhance learning experiences. Upcoming legislative changes, such as the EU Accessibility and US Disability Acts, pose challenges but embracing accessibility can significantly broaden your reach and showcase your commitment to inclusivity.
Ramsey discussed how accessibility compliance costs could impact smaller publishers with limited resources while Hyde emphasized the crucial inclusion of accessibility features in ebooks to enhance learning by supporting diverse student needs, like font adjustments and text-to-speech. These enhancements help publishers to effectively comply with regulations and broaden reach.
Additionally, Campbell highlighted OUP’s extensive B2B activities, integrating content into third-party digital platforms from smartphones to search engines like Google and Bing, reinforcing its mission to improve accessibility and information accuracy.
“Our teams are working with the same teams from large technology companies, adapting as they adapt their businesses into AI workflows and business models.” - John Campbell, OUP
Ramsey also discussed EUP's participation in Open Access (OA) models, such as funding University of Edinburgh academics to publish OA with EUP and contributing to UK AI Consultation collaborative response. She noted that, following a peak in OA publications in 2023, sales declined significantly in line with library budget cuts, and while REF29 doesn’t mandate OA for all monographs, there’s uncertainty among university presses about future requirements and funding availability.
Top Tip Stay informed about regulatory changes and incorporate accessibility features to ensure your content remains inclusive and accessible, increasing the visibility and longevity of your products and IP.
Explore New Product Types and Formats
Campbell discussed OUP’s digital transformation, acknowledging that budget limitations can hinder AI adoption. With digital content contributing to almost 80% of OUP’s revenue, the press demonstrates its adaptability. Campbell noted however that publishers must position themselves in the online spaces where students are migrating to fully leverage this opportunity.
Ramsey noted that ebook sales continue to grow, yet expressed concern that despite the absence of shipping, printing, or warehouse costs for digital products, this growth doesn’t offset print sales losses. She commented that ebook models that rely on third-party aggregators can change without warning, and do not serve university presses effectively as currently structured.
Hyde highlighted increasing competition from major players in spatial computing like Apple, Microsoft, and Meta, alongside agile tech startups rapidly creating and delivering interactive digital-only content without legacy constraints like royalty agreements or copyright considerations. She emphasized that publishers need to adapt swiftly to student needs while leveraging their publishing heritage, to create innovative approaches that ensure legacy content evolves to meet modern demands, including through virtual reality platforms.
“We know our traditional content but we also need to be moving forward now around new content, and we need to use technology to help us get there, to do things quicker, faster and possibly cheaper. [...] We are held to strict budgets even as the demand for creating more content increases. AI in its broadest sense, generative AI and machine translation, natural language programming, that all plays a part in what we’re doing.” - Madelene Hyde, Elsevier
Top Tip Utilize technology to diversify your offerings with innovative product types and formats, enhancing digital engagement to ensure your content meets the evolving needs of students and institutions.
Generate Revenue Through Innovation
Agility and innovation are essential in today's competitive landscape. Emerging technologies such as machine translation, spatial computing, and big data offer new avenues for content delivery and revenue generation. By integrating innovative strategies with traditional strengths, publishers can transform and enhance legacy content to meet modern demands. Partnering with trusted technology providers is crucial, and will accelerate your transition to new technologies that bolster your mission.
“We apply a core set of principles to everything we do where AI meets our most trusted high quality research content. This is about solving user problems, and leading with transparency. We work with technology partners that we trust and hold to the same high standards, harvesting their expertise with our content to leverage the multiplier effect. And we’ll keep challenging and changing our practices as we go.” - John Campbell, OUP
Top Tip Forge partnerships with tech-savvy enterprises to swiftly innovate and align your traditional content with modern interactive products and delivery methods, unlocking new revenue streams.
Harnessing Innovation: Turning Challenges into Opportunities
By adopting these strategies, you can effectively navigate digital transformation challenges in publishing and capitalize on emerging opportunities. Embrace community collaboration, leverage AI and technology, prioritize compliance, and harness innovation as your driving force for resilience. These guiding principles will help you chart a course for success in today's competitive educational landscape and future-proof your business.
For more information on Virtusales’ academic and scholarly community or how BiblioSuite software can support your publishing goals, contact us today.
Hungry for more insights? Explore our write-up from last year’s panel:
Opportunities and Inconvenient Truths: Academic Insights from LBF’s Research & Scholarly Forum 2024 with Bloomsbury, Elsevier, and Princeton University Press.
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