Discover Opportunities, Drive Innovation, Develop Solutions, and Deliver Success.
KGL Consulting is a leading consultancy serving the scholarly publishing community. Our team of accomplished industry professionals has the breadth and depth necessary to help clients meet the complex needs of today and help future-proof their programs for tomorrow.
Since 2000, we have partnered with more than 200 societies, publishers, and other organizations, virtually all of which have sought our advice on multiple occasions. Thanks to the care, collaborative spirit, and creativity with which each project is handled, our reports do not sit on a shelf; they are immediately actionable.
Read on for more information about our new and longstanding solutions:
Strategic Planning and Implementation
KGL Consulting takes a comprehensive approach to publishing strategy. From stakeholder interviews or facilitating strategic planning sessions through preparing actionable recommendations, we clarify your objectives, understand your current value proposition, ascertain and evaluate alternatives, and propose the most promising path forward. Plans are customized for your organization while being informed by our decades of experience and innovation.
Business plans for new and existing products
Journal valuations and brokerage
Strategic directions and implementation
Scenario building and financial modeling
Organization, governance, and change management
New Product Development
To develop innovative products that are aligned with your mission and meet your goals for growth, KGL Consulting employs proven methods. We identify and screen ideas, craft new product concepts, pretest user adoption, prepare financial projections, help secure Board approval, and schedule key events leading to launch. Our consultants have been involved in the development of dozens of successful new journals, with the most prestigious organizations. Our approach reduces risk and vastly increases the chance of continuing success.
Idea screening and concept development
User research and competitor analyses
Business models, pricing, and policies
Publisher RFPs and Contract Negotiations
KGL Consulting’s management of publisher RFPs is second to none. No other consultancy has handled more RFPs, renewals, and contract negotiations, consistently receiving high praise from our clients. Our market knowledge, time-tested process and documentation, and detailed assessment and analysis ensure that you have the information necessary about both the complement of services and the financial package (and strategic vision!) being offered to select the best partner for your organization.
Understanding which publishers are most likely to meet your evolving needs
Sophisticated assessment of publishing services and financial returns to the organization
Effective negotiating skills, substantially improving performance and financial outcomes
Management of transition from one publisher to another
Publisher Appraisal and Liaison Service (PALS)
PALS is an annual service providing expert, independent appraisal of your publishing partner’s editorial, production, marketing, and financial performance. The result will be specific, actionable recommendations on how to prioritize projects and use your publisher’s knowledge and resources to best effect.
Clients routinely approach us at renewal time with questions or concerns about their journal and/or publisher performance over the past contract term. This service helps societies optimize publisher performance throughout the contract. Our approach helps channel resources toward areas that may need attention and which can benefit from renewed emphasis.
Here are just a few of the possible benefits of putting PALS to work for your publications:
Monitor publisher’s contract obligations and analyze financial return to identify opportunities, highlight trends, and assess performance vis-à-vis society expectations
Assess publisher marketing plans and advocate for journal-specific campaigns
Champion strategic journal initiatives with the publisher to ensure follow through
Benchmark journal metrics against best practice KPIs and identify optimization strategies
Additionally, PALS includes a bank of “Society Choice” hours for you to draw on. This might mean additional analysis, follow up with your publisher on action items, or implementation of discrete projects that you want to pursue from the audit.
Editor-in-Chief Recruitment
An Editor-in-Chief search is demanding. It takes significant time and resources to recruit a targeted group of qualified and diverse candidates, hire an individual with the requisite professional experience and personal qualities, and provide appropriate transparency. And yet these are vital to upholding a society’s reputation and increasing journal impact. KGL Consulting manages Editor-in-Chief recruitment on behalf of many societies each year, helping to set journal programs on a path to even greater success. Our services may include any or all of the following:
Drafting a recruitment and communications plan, resulting in a qualified and diverse pool of candidates
Preparing a position description describing the qualifications, responsibilities, and expectations
Offering an assessment tool providing for fair and objective review of candidates’ experience and credentials
Benchmarking compensation plans for Editor-in-Chief and associate editors
Ensuring that the Editor-in-Chief contract covers basics plus performance metrics and unexpected circumstances
Crafting an editor transition plan, including manuscript system training and editor terms and turnover
Publications Director Service
KGL Consulting’s Publications Director service provides an experienced individual (backed by our team of consultants) to advance a society’s journal publishing program by providing publications management, publisher / service provider oversight, publication development, and strategic guidance and implementation to achieve the society’s goals on a full- or part-time basis.
For organizations wishing to benefit from experienced publishing professional but do not need or cannot afford a full-time position
Intelligent and affordable solution for organizations that have journal management handled by an already busy staff, have a small team needing direction, or wish to grow their publications
In an increasingly complex environment, editors need more support and societies need an expert to ensure continued, strong financial returns
Quality Submissions and Impact
KGL Consulting provides expert guidance on editorial and publishing operations workflows, policies, and organization. We have the diagnostic tools to identify critical strengths and weaknesses and the experience to suggest ways to mitigate threats and realize opportunities. Stakeholder interviews, a close review of important background documents, citation and funder analyses, and competitive benchmarking inform our recommendations. We can also assess client-provided reports and data to identify and prioritize actionable strategics and tactics.
Drive high-impact global submissions
Streamline workflow and increase speed
Improving editor, reviewer, and author satisfaction
Market Research, Trends, and Analytics
Thousands of in-depth interviews with stakeholders and opinion leaders; hundreds of representative panel discussions and statistically valid end-user surveys and competitor and industry analyses, and dozens of papers and presentations on publishing trends and best practices—multitudes of reasons for selecting KGL Consulting to conduct your publishing market research and help you determine your future direction. What separates us from other market research firms is our valuable insights and actionable advice.
Surveys, focus groups, and interviews
Trends talks to inform publishing staff, editors, publications committees, and boards.
Citation/bibliometric analyses vis-à-vis the competition
OA/Funder analyses for benchmarking, planning, and decision-making
Largest editorial compensation benchmarking study available.
“I have worked with KGL Consulting on a variety of strategic projects that have helped advance the business development function at the American Academy of Neurology. I have always found them to be responsive, professional, and good stewards of our resources – completing projects in a manner that truly adds value, while meeting deadlines and staying within budget. They have functioned as an extension of our department and are a delight to work with.”
