FEDERATION OF FINNISH LEARNED SOCIETIES, WEB PUBLICATION 8 LEARNED SOCIETIES IN FINLAND 2018 LAURA KORKEAMÄKI, ELINA LATE, JANNE PÖLÖNEN, LEA RYYNÄNEN-KARJALAINEN, SAMI SYRJÄMÄKI CONTENTS ABSTRACT . 3 1 INTRODUCTION . 4 2 LITERATURE REVIEW . 5 What is a learned society? . 5 Korkeamäki, L., Late, E., Pölönen, J., Ryynänen-Karjalainen, L., & Syrjämäki, S. (2019). Learned societies Publishing activities of learned societies . 7 in Finland 2018. Web publications of the Federation of Finnish Learned Societies 8. Other activities of learned societies . 8 Julkaisutiedot: Tieteellisten seurain valtuuskunta, Helsinki, 2019 3 LEARNED SOCIETIES IN FINLAND . 11 ISBN: 978-952-5995-19-0 Historical background . 11 ISSN: 2242-8011 Member societies of TSV . 12 Role of learned societies as publishers . 14 DOI-tunniste: https://doi.org/10.23847/isbn.9789525995190 4 QUESTIONNAIRE AND INTERVIEW SURVEY . 18 Data collection . 18 Features of learned societies . 19 Publishing . 23 Open science . 25 Seminar and conference activities . 25 Research activities . 25 Societal influencing and science communication . 26 Cooperation with different organisations . 27 Future . 28 Membership in TSV . 32 Comparison to earlier research . .. 33 5 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS . 35 Utilisation of the research results and follow-up . 36 SOURCES . 37 APPENDICES . 39 ABSTRACT Learned societies are important actors in the scientific community along with 70% of work was done without remuneration. The most common benefits for other organisations, such as universities and research institutes. However, only the members of the learned societies were the opportunity to participate in fragmented research exists on their current forms of operation. The operating the society’s events, a newsletter and a discount/exemption from participation environment of learned societies is in change with the objective to move to- fees for events or journal subscription fees. More than 60% of the respondents wards open scientific publishing. The aim of this study was to collect informa- were concerned about a decline in their society’s membership. tion on learned societies operating in Finland, and their organisation and -activ ities. The research was conducted in cooperation of the Federation of Finnish Typical activities of the societies were the organisation of seminars and other Learned Societies (TSV) and Tampere University. academic events, societal influencing and publishing. Approximately 70% of the societies’ publications were in Finnish. About a quarter of the societies In 2018, TSV had a membership of 278 societies and four academies. The exact stated that they supported research in some way (e.g. by funding research). number of learned societies in Finland is unknown, as not all learned socie- 90% of the respondent societies maintained contact with other Finnish so- ties are members of the Federation. This study examined the role of learned cieties and 74% with foreign or international societies. Other typical cooper- societies as academic publishers in Finland. Two Finnish publication databases ation partners included universities, other higher education institutions and were used in the analysis (the Publication Forum’s publication register and the research institutes. VIRTA publication information service). TSV’s member societies published 54% of Finnish publication channels and 56% of the Finnish peer-reviewed publica- More than 40% of the societies plan to launch new activities in the future. tions produced by Finnish universities in 2011–2017. The corresponding share Many activities, like publishing and organising seminars, will remain core func- of other learned societies was 16%. tions. The societies see that, in the future, it is important to invest more in support for young researchers, digital communication, interdisciplinarity, co- The activities of TSV’s member societies were studied more broadly with a -sur operation and international activities. Based on this study, it can be concluded vey questionnaire and interviews. TSV’s member societies (282) were sent an that learned societies play an important role in the Finnish scientific communi- online survey, which gained 115 responses (a response rate of 41%). In addi- ty both as publishers and actors in society. Therefore, it is important to resolve tion, seven respondents that represented different learned societies were- in the issues of open publishing to avoid jeopardising the financial capability of terviewed. The majority of the questionnaire respondents stated that the main learned societies. objective of the society they represented was to promote a specific academic discipline and field of research. The most common sources of income for the societies were membership fees and publishing subsidy from TSV. Volunteer work plays a major role in the activities of learned societies, as an average of 3 In 2018–2019, TSV and Tampere University carried out a study aimed at collect- 1. INTRODUCTION ing information on learned societies operating in Finland, and their organisation and activities . This report is a compilation of the results of the study . The main If no learned societies existed in Finland, we would have very little national sci- research questions of the study were the following: entific publishing and conference and seminar activities, for example. Indeed, • How do learned societies organise their activities? the role of learned societies as national promoters of science is indisputable . In spite of this, little research has been done on the activities of learned societies . • What are the main functions of learned societies? This report aims to fill this gap in research and bring forward the importance of • What is the role of learned societies in the field of scientific publishing? learned societies in Finland . • How do learned societies implement open science? What kinds of plans and views do societies have regarding open science? Learned societies unite scholars and science enthusiasts interested in the same • How do learned societies implement societal influencing and science communica- subjects across organisational and geographical boundaries . Supporting scientif- tion? ic research and disseminating research results to the scientific community and • What future opportunities and threats can be seen in the activities of learned socie- the general public are considered to be the key activities of learned societies . ties? (Heikkilä, 2002; Hopkins, 2011.) For example, learned societies publish scientific • What role does the Federation of Finnish Learned Societies play in the activities of journals, organise conferences and take part in societal influencing (Hewitt, Ding- learned societies? Why are the societies members of the Federation? wall, & Turkmendag, 2017) . In Finland, learned societies are key academic pub- lishers, for they publish the majority of national scientific journals (Koikkalainen, The report begins with an overview of the literature on learned societies (chapter 2018) . 2) . Next, Chapter 3 discusses learned societies in Finland . Section 3 .4 examines the role of learned societies in national scientific publishing in Finland utilising Digitalisation and the shift to open access publishing pose challenges to the op- two Finnish databases: the Publication Forum (in Finnish often referred to as eration of learned societies . The activities of many societies are funded by mem- JUFO) and the VIRTA publication information service . bership fees and the sale of publications . Although the publications of learned societies are supported by state subsidies in Finland, the situation is problematic TSV’s 282 member societies were sent a survey, which was supplemented by for many societies . If journals can be read for free in the future, learned societies interviews . With the questionnaire and interview survey, the societies’ structural have to rethink the financing of their activities and what else they have to offer to background and activities were studied in a scientific and societal context. These their members (see Bennett, 2013). Therefore, the financing of open access pub- findings are presented in Chapter 4. Finally, the results of the study are discussed lishing has to be solved so that the societies can continue publishing in Finland and conclusions presented in Chapter 5 . also in the future (see, for example, Koikkalainen, 2018). The project was carried out by University Lecturer Elina Late and Research As- The changes described above have raised discussion in learned societies about sistant Laura Korkeamäki from Tampere University, and Executive Director Lea their identity and purpose . The Federation of Finnish Learned Societies (TSV) sup- Ryynänen-Karjalainen, Head of Planning Janne Pölönen and Head of Publications ports learned societies as they move into digital and open access publishing, and Sami Syrjämäki from TSV. Laura Korkeamäki and Elina Late were responsible for strives to strengthen the societies’ identity in the changing operating environ- producing and analysing the research material as well as writing the first draft of ment . (Tieteellisten seurain valtuuskunta, 2018c; Tieteellisten seurain valtuuskun- manuscript . All team members have participated in brainstorming and planning nan strategia 2019–2023 .) TSV is the cooperative body of learned societies in the research, interpreting the results and finalising the manuscript. Finland . 4 Types of learned societies There are different types of learned societies, which is why they are difficult to 2. LITERATURE