“Renew Consulting for Societies was employed by the Advertising Association to conduct a review of its publications business. The final report was comprehensive, transparent and extremely informative and helped the Association to take the decision to tender its journal’s business. Julie Neason managed the procurement process from start to finish, advising and supporting the Association over a six-month period. The service we received was excellent: Julie is very knowledgeable and was able to combine strategic thinking alongside the more practical considerations. Ultimately, the help we received enabled us to negotiate an excellent long-term publishing partnership and has secured the future of the Association’s publishing operation. We would have no hesitation in recommending Renew Consulting for Societies.”
“As our journal approached its 50th anniversary, the Antipode Foundation commissioned Julie Neason at Renew to conduct a review of our publishing arrangements. Julie presented an insightful report, evaluating our situation against industry norms and offering a balanced assessment of the possible costs and benefits of going out to full competitive tender. Occupying an important place in the publishing landscape, Julie is able to provide impartial advice to scholarly societies – advice that could prove to be invaluable.”
“The support we have received from Julie Neason has been exemplary, as has been their expert and rational advice. Julie assisted us through every step of the journal’s tender process from the creation of the RfP through assessment of the publisher proposals, attendance at publisher presentations and then finalising the contract. Very early in the process Julie provided a timeframe for all of the project milestones and has since ensured that all of the parties involved have delivered on time
As we are in Australia, and the selection panel was mainly clinicians with full-time jobs, Julie had to attend our presentation day (by video conference) between midnight and 6 am their time, on a Saturday night! Above and beyond. Julie’s communication has been superb, the distance and time difference has not posed the slightest problem, and Julie has been happy to have email conversations well into her evening time on many occasions.
Renew’s service is comprehensive and they have helped deliver what we are sure will be the best partnership for our journal and society. I am very happy to recommend Renew to assist other societies through their publisher negotiations.”
“Renew’s experience, knowledge and advice at a time of rapid change in the publishing environment have been very helpful to BJU International in planning our publication strategy and through the recent tender process for the BJU International journal. It is a pleasure to work with Julie Neason.”
“The process of evaluating and negotiating a journal publishing contract is complex, particularly at this time of major change in the publishing industry. Renew was recommended to BAUS as we recognized we needed external support as we began our contract review in 2019. The specialist expertise and experience Julie Neason brought to the process were invaluable. We were able to benefit from Julie’s understanding of our business (as an Association) as well as her detailed knowledge of the wider publishing market. We worked closely with Julie for over a year – she was very professional throughout, provided us with very clear and timely reports, insightful inputs at meetings and was a real pleasure to work with. I would have no hesitation in recommending Renew – I was so pleased they were recommended to us.”
“The British Veterinary Association (BVA) engaged Renew to support us through the process of securing a new long-term publishing agreement through competitive tender. Julie Neason’s advice and support was hugely helpful from the start and she took much of the burden of managing the process off our small in-house team. Her market insights and network of contacts were invaluable. Julie took time to understand our requirements and ensured that these were fully detailed in the Request for Proposals. Following a competitive process we were able to secure a very positive outcome and as a result took the decision to switch to a new publisher. Julie was a pleasure to work with throughout and I would be very happy to recommend Renew.”
“The Federation of European Microbiological Societies (FEMS) is a scholarly society publishing 5 established journals and organizing a number of events for microbiologists across Europe. Our publication portfolio had a solid reputation but we took the opportunity to work with Renew at a time when our existing publishing contract was up for renewal. Renew did a fantastic job working with our existing publisher to negotiate an agreement to everyone’s satisfaction.”
“The third-party publishing contract for the Journal of Hospital Infection was nearing renewal, and the Healthcare Infection Society (HIS) was looking to engage in a competitive tendering process for this purpose. After an evaluation of applicable organisations with expertise in this area, HIS contracted with julie Neason of Renew Consulting for Societies to assist with this process. Through Renew’s expert help, knowledge and negotiation, HIS were able to secure an excellent contract with their existing provider, providing surety in income for the foreseeable future.
Julie was fantastic to work with, fully understanding our requirements, translating these into their negotiations with our provider, and simplifying the process. Renew helped us to attain an excellent result through a proactive, professional and personable partnership. I would not hesitate to recommend Renew as a scientific publishing consultancy.”
“The Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) engaged Renew Consulting for Societies when our journals publishing contract came up for renewal. Renew advised and helped us through every step of the process – from drafting the RFP to evaluating responses and conducting presentations all the way to negotiating the final contract. Renew’s expertise and advice proved to be invaluable and allowed us to avoid many of the pitfalls this process can be fraught with. Engaging Renew ultimately saved us both time and money and I would recommend them without hesitation.”
“Several years later when our publishing agreement was due for renewal, we commissioned Renew again to help with the review and renegotiation of our journals’ contract. We requested a renewal offer from our current publisher and Julie Neason provided a detailed analysis of the terms and how they compared with the current contract. This allowed us to assess the merits of the proposal quickly and comprehensively, saving many hours of time. Julie also provided specific advice about the financial offer, and was able to give an anonymized summary of how this compared with other offers. This advice was invaluable, and could only have been provided by an expert consultant with experience of working with multiple organisations.
In addition, we found Julie’s pragmatic and practical advice indispensable when doing the legal contractual review. Without this, we could have become involved in multiple rounds of legal argument costing significant time and money. Julie’s advice allowed us to make sensible judgements about what really mattered, and where there was flexibility. This enabled us to finalise the contract with minimal drama.”
“Renew Consulting for Societies assisted the Market Research Society (MRS) with arranging new journal publishing arrangements for its academic journal, the International Journal of Market Research (IJMR). The project was complex; MRS was seeking a new journal publishing partner whilst retaining a digital rights relationship with its existing journal publishing partner.
Renew Consulting for Societies successfully steered MRS through the tender process, helping to secure a new publisher for the Journal with significantly increased fees, whilst also assisting MRS to retain a digital relationship with its former publisher. Throughout the process Julie’s support and advice was invaluable, reducing the burden of the whole process whilst ensuring that the new publishing arrangements provide a secure and sustainable future for the IJMR.”
“I met with Renew to undertake a strategic review of our journal’s publishing operation. Julie worked closely with staff and produced a comprehensive report covering all elements of our journal’s business including editorial and production processes, sales and marketing, subscription analysis, open access and the options available to the College in the medium to long-term future. I was pleased with the quality of the report, the findings of which have resulted in a number of positive changes including streamlining workflow processes, working more closely with the commercial arm of the College, engaging with third-party sales agents in a number of new territories as well as exciting plans for development and growth. I would recommend Renew to organisations seeking expert analysis regarding the future direction of their publishing business.”
“Julie Neason from Renew provided invaluable support and guidance throughout our journals’ tender. From start to finish, the project was very well managed with considerate and consistent engagement with RPS stakeholders and potential publishers – assessing final proposals, advising at presentations through to extremely complex contract negotiations. Julie helped us achieve all of our goals, and we would highly recommend Renew to support you with your tender process.”