One of the challenges for journals published by societies is the historical relationship between journal subscriptions and society memberships. One option for such journals if they are using article processing fees is to use a discounted rate for members.

The Journal of the Ceramic Society of Japan provides awards each year for outstanding papers. Only members of the society quality for the awards.

mBio authors can join ASM at the contributing member rate of $50 (students $20) to qualify for a $1,000 discount on the $3,000 OA APC.

G3 : Genes, Genomes, Genetics uses this method. Another is using the journal website as an advertising venue for membership. Language from the publisher website

http://www.g3journal.org/site/misc/ifora.xhtml#PUBLICATION%20CHARGES

G3 publication charges will be invoiced within several weeks of article acceptance. Charges (all inclusive) are:

• $1650 (corresponding authors who are members of the Genetics Society of America or the American Society of Human Genetics)
• $1950 (non-members)

Read about additional benefits of joining the Genetics Society of America here. There are no additional charges for author corrections, figures, supporting information files, or submission fees.

Is this method effective in attracting or retaining members? I don’t know – that would make a great research project. The team is collecting information about this variation in pricing as we go along. When we’re done we’ll post the spreadsheet and anyone interested can use this column to find a list of journals using the method to study.

This post is part of the open access article processing charges project.

Morrison, H. (2015). Deals for members and journal as publicity for society membership: Options for society journals. Sustaining the Knowledge Commons / Soutenir Les Savoirs Communs. Retrieved from https://sustainingknowledgecommons.org/2015/05/21/deals-for-members-and-journal-as-publicity-for-society-membership-options-for-society-journals/