Association Publishing is Bigger than You Think.

Associations and member organizations support some of the most prolific publishing in academia and science. Ranking and estimating the size of this market is difficult because reporting can be inconsistent; however, in a recent research project undertaken by my team, we identified approximately 230 associations with publishing programs and/or education programs. These associations range in size from mega-organizations such as the Mayo Clinic, American Heart Association and American Chemical Society to organizations with less than $200,000 in revenue.

In total these organizations produce over $3.5 Billion in publishing, educational and training materials annually with the majority of this content supporting research and the mission of each organization. While publishing is an important component of most associations on this list (88% report publishing revenues) it is notable how the importance of publishing revenues to total association revenue varies. Of the large organizations with small publishing programs, it is interesting to contemplate whether they are underestimating a potential secondary source of funding particularly when many of these associations compare unfavorably with associations in the same field but with more significant publishing programs. We have built a full list (including key staff salaries and vendor payments) but here is the top 20:

Association	Year	Total Rev	Pub Rev
American Chemical Society	2019	$671,000,000	$560,000,000
Consumer Reports	2019	254,000,000	210,000,000
Institute Of Electrical And Electronics Engineers Inc	2019	563,000,000	208,000,000
Massachusetts Medical Society (NEJM)	2019	135,000,000	104,000,000
American Psychological Association	2018	135,000,000	100,000,000
CFA Institute	2019	416,000,000	65,000,000
American Society For Testing And Materials	2019	100,000,000	64,000,000
American Society of Testing and Materials	2019	100,000,000	64,000,000
American Institute Of Physics	2019	83,000,000	63,161,000
American Medical Association	2018	332,000,000	60,000,000
American College of Cardiology	2018	115,000,000	51,000,000
American Physical Society	2018	67,000,000	45,000,000
American National Standards Institute	2019	81,000,000	39,000,000
American Association For The Advancement Of Science	2019	116,000,000	36,000,000
American Academy Of Pediatrics	2019	123,000,000	35,000,000
American Society for Clinical Oncology	2019	163,000,000	32,000,000
Public Library Of Science	2019	30,000,000	32,000,000
SAE International	2018	79,000,000	30,000,000
The Optical Society	2019	50,000,000	26,000,000

In our related research into publishing technology (for our annual report), interviewees noted a COVID related trend impacting associations showing how varied and broad-based their publishing programs can be. During COVID many associations had to communicate with their members in any way they could due to the absence of in-person meetings and conferences. Not only did this create new classes of content (for them) but it also established new processes around engagement. These processes are becoming embedded into how the organizations treat all content not just the ‘formally’ published research materials and education content and associations are seeking supporting tools and solutions. As an outcome of COVID, content types have grown to include webinars, podcasts, market research some of which may have been produced in the past but is now viewed more as an asset and less of a throw-away.

As we will note in our technology report, associations are likely to expand their publishing programs and will be seeking solutions to support that activity. Several software companies such as Silverchair have anticipated this trend and have solutions in the market already. We will see more activity in this space over the coming year.