Publishers want to ensure that their journals remain the preferred vehicle for publication of academic research. They finance, edit, authenticate, market and deliver scholarship and research to the appropriate audience throughout the world. They provide the administrative and organisational structure for the dissemination of academic work. They also put resources into the academic community through editorial fees and expenses and, in many cases, through royalties to universities and learned societies on sales revenue. The journal publishing process is a mutually beneficial relationship between publishers and authors.
Publishers bring many elements into the equation.
Publishers depend on authors, the original creators of everything they publish. Academic authors want to validate, present and disseminate their findings to an interested world-wide audience. Publishers respect this need and do everything they can to satisfy it within the framework of quality control. This is particularly true in the unique economy of learned journal articles, where authors publish for reasons other than money. In general, authors receive no direct financial reward and, in some instances, are prepared to pay for publication.