Consulting Testimonials

The Anatomical Society engaged KGL Consulting to advise on and help negotiate its last three publishing contracts. The Society has two journals; one is published as a hybrid journal, while the other is Open Access. KGL’s knowledge of the global journal publishing environment and the expertise of its staff ensured that the Society achieved the best possible terms for the different types of contract. KGL were highly professional, knowledgeable, responsive and a pleasure to work with. I am sure that the Society will continue to use their services in the future.

We have a long history of self-publishing RESPIRATORY CARE, the official science Journal of the American Association for Respiratory Care. Like many journals, we were exploring the potential of introducing a second journal. We hired KGL Consultants to help us navigate this possibility. During this process, we confronted many of the challenges facing journals today such as open access and article processing charges. The expertise of the KGL Consultants helped us better understand these issues, leading to a decision to secure a co-publisher for the flagship and a second journal. Kevin and Jen helped us navigate the preparation of an RFP to best position us to negotiate a contract with a co-publisher. This process was challenging and would have been impossible without the professional, friendly, and supportive help of Kevin and Jen.

KGL Consulting were essential in helping us assess our journal portfolio and create an actionable strategic plan, as well as to transform our Editor in Chief performance assessment processes. Insights they provided informed not only our journals strategy but our organization-wide global strategy. Our Board and staff across departments are consistently impressed with the clarity and depth of reports and recommendations from Kevin and Annette. We look forward to continuing to work with them!

We’ve had the privilege of working with KGL Consulting for over five years, and their professionalism, clear communication, and deep knowledge of scholarly publishing have proven invaluable to our organization. The team seamlessly tailors their reports to our vision, ensuring a smooth collaborative process. KGL’s commitment to excellence is evident in their execution of projects, from creating surveys to conducting focus groups.

What sets KGL apart is their insightful understanding of industry trends, allowing them to navigate the ever-changing landscape of scholarly publishing. Their ability to identify emerging trends and provide personalized recommendations makes them a reliable partner in shaping the strategic vision for our portfolio.

Our experience working with KGL Consulting to secure a publishing partner for the Journal of Soil and Water Conservation has been exceptional. Specifically, their expertise and industry knowledge were instrumental in navigating the RFP process. With KGL’s steadfast support and strategic insights, we released an RFP that has put us on a path toward a promising partnership. KGL is the bridge that is taking us from where we are to where we want to be.

Our small nonprofit society hired KGL to help us navigate the complex publishing landscape on our way to a publishing partnership. Like superheroes, Kevin and Annette swooped in to make the daunting RFP process an absolute breeze. Our experience working with KGL has been exceptional, and we highly recommend them to any organization looking for a dedicated consultant who uses their industry knowledge and insights to give clients the best shot at a successful outcome.

We’ve all entered relationships with consultants with our fingers crossed and breath held. This is NOT the case with KGL! They proved their value to our publisher contract renegotiation process this year and five years ago – demonstrating their sustained commitment to excellence. KGL’s knowledge and expertise in the publishing industry pairs nicely with their staff’s ability to listen to and understand their clients’ needs and priorities. They’ve earned our trust by providing tangible results.

KGL’s market research insights put us on a path of strategic exploration and discovery. As a result of the data and analysis they provided, we were able to define and reach new strategic goals that led to increased brand visibility, website traffic, and product sales.

After experiencing outstanding service in 2019 from Cara Rivera, the Alliance of Crop, Soil, and Environmental Science Societies (ACSESS) returned to KnowledgeWorks Global (KGL) in 2023 for guidance in the development of the second phase of a co-publishing partnership. KGL’s in-depth knowledge of the evolving scholarly publishing market and experience assisting nonprofit member societies were significant factors in our decision to engage KGL at this key moment for our publications.

Jennifer Kullgren and Kevin Lomangino led ACSESS through an accelerated RFP process using skilled research, collaboration, and smart advice. KGL provided options and opportunities we had not considered earlier. Jen and Kevin also helped ACSESS maintain transparency and facilitated communications to our three nonprofit societies.

KGL successfully navigated ACSESS through framing, negotiating, and finalizing a favorable agreement. ACSESS values its trusted, long-standing relationship with KGL.

KGL Consulting has been a pleasure to work with right from the beginning. Cara Rivera and Jennifer Kullgren have been a wealth of information, helping the CAS navigate an extension with our current publisher, providing excellent counsel throughout the RFP process, and have been instrumental in negotiating contracts and providing insight on current academic publishing business models. I would recommend KGL Consulting to any professional association or society that publishes an academic journal and requires support.

We have had the pleasure of working with KGL Consulting many times over the last ten years. We consider them a trusted go-to partner in developing and improving our journals program. The services that KGL has provided us are extensive – they range from reader-author-member surveys and bibliometric analyses for each of our journals to maximize submissions and citations; to assessments of our editorial and production staffing structure; to guidance for recruiting, assessing, and remunerating Editors-in-Chief; to launching an Open Access journal and other new products; to developing RFPs and analyzing bids from vendors to improve our institutional sales worldwide; to a comprehensive three-year project that produced a new strategic plan for our entire publications portfolio’s scientific and financial performance. In all cases, KGL staff worked efficiently and seamlessly with staff and Society leadership – including making presentations to our Board and committees — to meet the project objectives.

I have had the great pleasure of working with KGL Consulting for more than a decade. Their team of highly skilled professionals is extremely knowledgeable of the market and has assisted me on a wide variety of projects. I look forward to working with them for many years to come.

KGL Consulting was hired to help recruit a new Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of the American Planning Association. We needed a workable and replicable process based on best practices that would engage our Search Committee and key stakeholders on a short timeline. Lisa Marshall, the Senior Consulting Associate who handled our project, proposed a strategy, conducted stakeholder interviews and prepared documentation outlining the qualities we needed in a new editor. Once our Call for Nominations was published, the KGL team followed through quickly and thoroughly on every lead; our candidate pool was strong, and we had no shortage of finalists for the position. We are in the process of negotiating a contract with our new editor now, and are extremely pleased with the professionalism of the search and its outcome.  Throughout, KGL provided insight on a variety of related topics including transition of our editorial office, compensation, and benchmarking data. I would work with this agency again in a heartbeat!

Our Journal Board of Trustees invited KGL Consulting to manage the search for a qualified replacement of the Managing Editor of the Arthroscopy Association of North America’s Arthroscopy Journal who was retiring. Due to KGL’s vast consulting experience with scholarly journals, we also trusted their knowledge to assist us in redefining and fine-tuning the Managing Editor job description. KGL attracted an excellent group of qualified candidates and detailed summaries of each were presented to us for review and consideration. KGL also helped to prepare interview questions, managed many of the logistics for a cross-country interview location, completed in-depth reference checks providing summaries of each, and managed the negotiation of a final job offer. Our new Managing Editor has been terrific and we are enormously grateful.

The IGCS has been engaged with KGL Consulting for over 18 months addressing key components of our journal publishing operations. KGL Consulting began its work by conducting a detailed audit of the journal that culminated with a thorough report that helped our leadership make crucial decisions to undertake some fundamental changes. KGL managed an RFP process for a new publisher which has led to a more equitable relationship, provided feedback regarding the role of a managing editor, facilitated the search for a new Editor-in-Chief, and negotiated the corresponding contracts. They have been an important resource for the new Editor and provide him with valuable guidance as he becomes familiar with his role. The KGL team is professional, courteous, and extremely knowledgeable about non-profit society publishing and peer-reviewed journals. This is the second time I have worked with KGL Consulting and both times have had equally amazing results.

I was impressed by the professionalism and efficiency of working with KGL on a research project. They were able to quickly respond to our request and worked closely with us to understand our requirements. They were able to deliver on a tight time schedule, and we were happy with the results. We look forward to working with them again.