2023 Annual Report
Year In Review
Twenty-five years ago, BioOne was founded as an innovative collaborative with a commitment to share research more broadly, equitably, and sustainably. In 2023 we put innovation at the forefront of our activities, announcing two significant new initiatives designed to meet BioOne’s mission and expand its impact.
In June, BioOne launched an inaugural eBook collection with a longtime partner, the Entomological Society of America. Working in collaboration with the ESA and multiple library partners who generously shared items from their print holdings, we digitized more than 90 years of previously inaccessible critical research. Following this successful pilot, BioOne is now poised to grow this program for the benefit of its publishing partners and the research community at large.
BioOne is also bringing innovation to the flagship journal aggregation BioOne Complete in pursuit of a more open future. In December we announced a bold plan for a 2026 Subscribe to Open pilot including up to 80 society and independent titles. This marks a significant milestone for the organization, and is a direct response to the needs voiced by our community to increase Open Access content without sacrificing partner sustainability.
As BioOne continues to grow and adapt in service of our shared mission for a more equitable scholarly communications ecosystem, we are grateful for the enduring support of so many individuals and organizations. The energy, foresight, and collaboration of the BioOne community is unparalleled.
ALAN H. SAVITZKY, PhD.
Chair of the Board of Directors
LAUREN KANE
President/CEO
“It’s particularly interesting for me to be engaged in BioOne’s story right now as the organization pursues equitable and sustainable ways to convert the research that’s been published in the BioOne collection of journals into a global public good.”
Kamran Naim
CERN
Strength in Community
BioOne has supported nonprofit scholarly communications since its founding in 1999. We exist for the benefit of our community, a global network of stakeholders united in a commitment to create, discover, and share research more broadly, equitably, and sustainably.
Community Snapshot
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Publishing societies, museums, research institutes, and independent presses
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Accessing universities, research organizations, and government agencies
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Hits to the BioOne Digital Library from students, researchers, and practitioners around the world
Delivering Value
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Returned to publishing partners
since 2001
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Lower price than the commercial average for biological sciences journals
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Worldwide average cost per download
BioOne Welcomes New Board Members
The BioOne Board of Directors is an essential part of our community, and their guidance and support is invaluable as we strive to fulfill our mission. In 2023 we welcomed Ans ter Woerds of SURF and Kamran Naim of CERN. Their perspectives and diverse voices have already had a great impact as they joined the rest of the Board in evaluating and unanimously endorsing the plans for a Subscribe to Open pilot during our November 2023 Board meeting.
Our Mission
BioOne sees sustainable scholarly publishing as an inherently collaborative enterprise connecting authors, nonprofit publishers, academic institutions, research libraries, and research funders in the common goal of maximizing access to critical research.
BioOne explores economic models and strategic partnerships that balance the needs of all stakeholders, and currently demonstrates this balance by offering financially sustainable information services in the biological sciences. BioOne supports best practices that increase operational effectiveness and technological standards that integrate its content with a global network of scholarly exchange.
BioOne COMPLETE
BioOne’s flagship aggregation of subscribed and Open Access titles broadly disseminates critical bioscience research, and since 2001 its innovative business model has equitably delivered sustaining revenue to our community of nonprofit publishers.
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Articles available
in BioOne Complete
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Of titles have
an Impact Factor
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title royalty
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Of net subscription fees
returned to publishers
Titles in BioOne Complete
Interdisciplinary Research
- Agriculture & Agronomy
- Ecology
- Environmental Sciences
- Geology & Paleontology
- Ornithology
- Veterinary Sciences
- Biodiversity Conservation
- Entomology
- Evolutionary Biology
- Marine & Freshwater Biology
- Plant Sciences
- Zoology
BioOne eBooks
Launched this year as a pilot effort, the BioOne eBooks program represents not only a new product line, but a new pathway via which BioOne can deliver on its mission. The inaugural collection is a testament to the power of collaboration among nonprofit organizations: BioOne and longtime partner the Entomological Society of America digitized and preserved more than 100 years of natural history and entomological research from ESA’s catalog, and were supported with loans of print volumes from multiple library partners.
The resulting ESA eBook Collection ensures that 163 volumes of critical research can now be accessed worldwide. It is hosted on the BioOne Digital Library alongside BioOne Complete, and is available via a one-time licensing model that matches today’s library purchasing preferences. In its first year, twenty partnering libraries adopted this collection. Given this early success, the BioOne eBooks program is poised to accommodate additional future collections that will sustainably serve the biosciences community.
“Creating the ESA eBook Collection on the BioOne Digital Library allows us to make the comprehensive research in this collection broadly accessible, while sustainably covering the substantial costs of digitizing content.”
Matt Hudson
Director of Publications, Communications,
and Marketing
Entomological Society of America
Creating New Open Access Pathways
BioOne is proud to embark on a new chapter in its support of sustainable Open Access. In December 2023 we announced a bold plan to offer up to 80 partner titles as part of a Subscribe to Open pilot beginning in January 2026. This decision was unanimously endorsed by the BioOne Board of Directors, and followed 18 months of careful feasibility analysis and interviews with the BioOne community.
BioOne will work with its publishing community throughout 2024 to encourage participation in the pilot, enabling a rollout to the library market in 2025 for a 2026 volume year launch. The pilot offering will focus on those titles that are exclusively available to researchers via the aggregation BioOne Complete, representing societies, museums, research organizations, and independent presses across 15 countries. BioOne Complete will remain a mixed-model collection of subscribed, S2O, and gold OA titles.
BioOne Complete in 2026:
A Mixed Model Aggregation
*Actual number of S2O titles to be determined
Timeline
New Additions to BioOne Complete: OA Collection
BioOne Complete Now Features
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Open Access Titles
Insect Systematics
and Diversity
Entomological Society of America
*New title joins BioOne Complete
American Museum Novitates
Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History
*Transfer from subscribed to Gold OA
"We firmly believe that S2O embodies the forthcoming trajectory in academic journal evolution. Your invaluable efforts in orchestrating this endeavor are deeply appreciated."
Ran Shenghong
Journal of Resources and Ecology
Global Distribution and Impact
The critical content produced by the BioOne community of publishers and researchers reaches a broad audience, thanks to a global network of partnerships and distribution channels. More than 40 consortia partners help 80% of our subscribing libraries efficiently license BioOne Complete. In addition, our participation in Research4Life brings no-cost access to readers in more than 80 countries.
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Subscribing libraries and institutions
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Countries accessing
BioOne Complete
Countries with
Subscribing Institutions
"The BioOne Digital Library is an important resource for Iowa State University, and the BioOne Complete journal aggregation supports our research and teaching in agriculture and natural history. As a librarian, I'm excited to see BioOne expanding into eBooks, which increases our community's access to important books and book series. Supporting smaller nonprofit publishers is important to our researchers and the scholarly ecosystem and BioOne lets us do that."
Robin N. Sinn
Iowa State University
Community Outreach
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New library partners added
in 2023
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Global industry conferences attended
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Invited presentations meeting our educational mission
BioOne Ambassador Award
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Awarded to early career researchers
since 2018
In 2023 the BioOne Ambassador Awards attracted 41 nominations from 19 publishing partners, more than double the participation of previous cycles. Now in its sixth year, this program honors early career researchers for their ability to communicate the impact of their work to a broad audience, encouraging greater scientific literacy and aiding in the understanding of the natural world. By engaging in rigorous research coupled with effective science communication, these scientists help carry forth BioOne’s mission to maximize access to critical research.
"The BioOne Ambassador Awards has helped to increase the visibility that the next generation of brilliant biologists deserve. To improve and diversify science in the 21st century, preserve biodiversity, and combine efforts to solve human and environmental problems, it is imperative researchers who are doing important work are valued and supported."
Lisa Pepper
Missouri Botanical Garden Press
Engaging with BioOne Complete Content
Content Collections Support Our Community
Engagement with BioOne VISTA, Top & Trending Research, and other special content collections grew dramatically in 2023. These collections showcase the breadth of research published by BioOne partners and invite readers to explore areas of the biosciences that enhance their understanding of the natural world. Popular topics from 2023 highlighted herpetology, One Health and public health, and migratory birds.
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Full-text article downloads
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Increase in content collection pageviews
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Increase in users accessing content collections
Collaboration in Action
BioOne’s Chelsea Tharp was joined by Matt Hudson of the Entomological Society of America and Robin Sinn of Iowa State University at the 2023 Charleston Library Conference to discuss the evolution of the ESA eBook Collection. This was a valuable opportunity to advocate for the power of nonprofits to innovate and compete in a challenging information landscape, while advancing our respective missions.
"BioOne has great content at such an affordable price, which helps us better deliver on our mission of making a four-year degree as accessible as possible! The customer service is outstanding, and we love working with BioOne."
Joye Cauthen, MLIS
Financial Report
2023 was a solid financial year for BioOne by all measures, and a welcome bounce-back from the previous year’s significant market downturn. In 2023, BioOne achieved a total net sales income of $7,674,223, a modest and budgeted 3% decline from 2022. Strong renewal performance of 98% allowed for the continued distribution of 64% of BioOne net revenue back to participating publishers.
2023 Total Revenue
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2023 Total Publisher Consideration
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. of Net Revenue Distributed to Publisher Partners
BioOne Revenue & Reinvestment
BioOne’s 2023 Audited Financial Statements and Form 990 are available on the BioOne website.
Leadership
2023 Board of Directors
Alan Savitzky, Chair
Catherine Murray-Rust, Treasurer
Joni Blake*, Secretary
Raym Crow*
Taran Grant
Robbie Hart
Chris Makowski
A. Townsend Peterson*
Eric S. Nagy*
Kamran Naim
Mira Waller
James F. Williams, II
Ans ter Woerds
2023 Staff
Lauren Kane
Beth Hutchins
Christine Orr
Chelsea Tharp
Maggie Grasseschi
Cheryl Greer
Meredith Pond
Amanda Rogers
BioOne is an innovative nonprofit collaborative and the leading content aggregator in the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences. More than 150 global scientific societies and nonprofit publishing organizations include their journals in BioOne’s flagship product, BioOne Complete, for the benefit of 5,500 accessing institutions and millions of researchers worldwide. Since 2001, BioOne has returned more than $83 million in royalty sharing back to its participants, with a commitment to share research more broadly, equitably, and sustainably.