Journal of Participatory Research Methods

What Journal of Participatory Research Methods does

Scholastica, Inc. is a privately held, founder-owned SaaS company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, founded around 2011. The company provides cloud-based academic journal publishing software and services, organized as four modular products that can be used independently or integrated end-to-end: a Peer Review System for manuscript submission tracking and editorial workflow management with configurable workflows, task automation, integrated email, and journal performance analytics; a digital-first Production Service that generates PDF, HTML, and JATS-compliant full-text XML article files from a single source; a fully-hosted OA Publishing Platform with readership analytics and built-in DOI/archiving/indexing integrations; and a specialized Law Review System with a submission center, group submission management, and expedite requests. The platform serves over 1,000 scholarly journals and 700+ law reviews globally.

The underlying architecture is a digital-first single-source production pipeline that uses machine learning to automate typesetting subtasks—table formatting, header detection, citation parsing, and equation reproduction—combined with US-based human typesetters for quality assurance. The platform integrates with Crossref (DOI registration and the Similarity Check/iThenticate V2 plagiarism service), PubMed Central, ROR institutional identifiers, and a range of archiving and discovery services, and automatically produces machine-readable JATS-standard XML metadata to support indexing into academic databases.

Scholastica monetizes through a hybrid revenue model combining per-submission author fees (~$7.35 per law review submission, ~$10 for non-law reviews), institutional account subscriptions (universities and law schools subsidize faculty submissions via monthly invoicing or pre-purchased credits with a $1,000 minimum), recurring SaaS fees for peer review system access, paid production services, and OA hosting. Go-to-market is product-led with self-serve sign-up for individual journals, complemented by inside sales/demo motions for enterprise publishers and a dedicated institutional accounts portal. The company is co-founded and led by CEO Brian Cody and CTO Cory Schires, with no disclosed venture capital or private equity backing, suggesting a bootstrapped operating posture.

Name

Journal of Participatory Research Methods

Legal name

Scholastica, Inc.

Website

https://scholasticahq.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Scholastica is a privately held Chicago-based SaaS company that provides cloud-based academic journal publishing software—peer review, digital-first production, and open access hosting—for over 1,000 scholarly journals and 700+ law reviews worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Academic Journal Publishing Software

NAICS

Software Publishers (513210)

SIC

Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)

akta.pro primary industry

Academic & Scholarly Journals Publishing (Peer-Reviewed) (MPAJABAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Open Access Scholarly Journals & Monographs (EDAGAFAJ), Scholarly Societies & Conference Proceedings Publishing (MPAJABAK)

Keywords

• Academic journal software
• Peer review management
• Open access publishing
• Article production service
• Law review submissions

Headquarters

HQ city

Cincinnati

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Author Submission Fees: Authors pay a fee per submission to journals on Scholastica. The fee per submission varies by journal type: approximately $7.35 for law reviews and approximately $10 for non-law reviews. These fees are paid by authors directly unless subsidized by an institutional account.
2. Institutional Account Subsidy Payments: Institutions (universities, law schools) pay for their authors' submissions through Scholastica institutional accounts. Institutions can choose automatic monthly invoicing or pre-purchase credit packages (minimum $1,000). Institutions list specific author emails or domains to subsidize submissions. Fees are deducted per submission.
3. Production Service: Journals pay for Scholastica's digital-first production service that generates PDF, HTML, and XML article files from accepted manuscripts. Pricing details are not publicly disclosed but are offered as a paid add-on service.
4. Peer Review System Access: Publishers and journals pay to use Scholastica's peer review management software. Pricing is not publicly disclosed and likely varies based on journal size and volume.
5. OA Publishing Platform Hosting: Journals pay for fully-hosted open access journal websites on Scholastica's OA publishing platform, including analytics, search optimization, and integrations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Scholastica provides modular SaaS software and services for academic journal publishing, covering peer review management, digital-first article production (synchronized PDF, HTML, and JATS XML from a single source), and fully-hosted open access journal websites. It is used by 1,000+ journals and 700+ law reviews globally and includes a dedicated Law Review Submission Center and Institutional Accounts that let universities subsidize author submissions.

Product overview

Scholastica is a modular academic journal publishing platform consisting of four core integrated products: the Peer Review System for manuscript submission tracking and peer review management, the Production Service for digital-first single-source typesetting (generating PDF, HTML, and XML), the OA Publishing Platform for hosting Open Access journals with analytics, and the Law Review System for specialized law review submission management. An optional Institutional Accounts add-on enables universities to subsidize law review submission costs. The modular software can be used individually or integrated together to bridge editorial workflows, production, and publishing.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Peer Review System Submission tracking and manuscript management software for journal editors, featuring configurable workflows, task automation, integrated email and templates, journal performance analytics, and data pulls. Designed for journal editors, reviewers, and authors running academic peer review.
• Production Service Digital-first typesetting service that generates PDF, HTML, and full-text JATS XML article files from a single source manuscript, including end-to-end layout, reference checks, and proofing. XML is optimized for academic indexes, archives, and search. Sold as an add-on to journals.
• OA Publishing Platform Fully-hosted Open Access journal hosting platform with optimized journal websites, readership analytics suite, article-level stats, and built-in integrations with DOI, archiving, and indexing services. Designed for small and medium scholarly publishers launching or migrating OA journals.
• Law Review System Specialized submission management system for law reviews with an automatically-updating table of open law reviews, group submission management, expedite requests, and bulk withdrawals. Used by 700+ law reviews including California Law Review, Michigan Law Review, Notre Dame Law Review, NYU Law Review, and UC Davis Law Review.
• Institutional Accounts Billing management feature allowing institutions (universities, law schools) to sponsor and pay for authors' law review submissions via automatic monthly invoicing or pre-purchased credit packages (minimum $1,000), with authorized author email/domain management and submission history tracking.

Quantifiable outcome

• Journal typeset proofs delivered within seven days
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

AI capability5 records

Feature9 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Crossref Similarity Check (iThenticate V2)coreTechnology or IntegrationScholastica's Peer Review System integrates with Crossref's Similarity Check plagiarism detection service powered by iThenticate V2. This is an optional integration that helps journals detect potential plagiarism in manuscript submissions.
• PubMed CentralcoreTechnology or IntegrationScholastica's platform includes ready-to-go integration with PubMed Central (PMC) for journals seeking PMC indexing. Journals using Scholastica's peer review system and production service can more easily apply for PMC indexing with enriched, interoperable XML metadata.
• CrossrefcoreTechnology or IntegrationScholastica integrates with Crossref for DOI assignment, metadata deposit, and other Crossref services. The platform automatically generates enriched XML metadata ready for Crossref deposit.
• DOI and Archiving ServicescoreTechnology or IntegrationScholastica's OA Publishing Platform includes integrations with DOI, archiving, and indexing services to help journals meet industry standards for digital publishing and discoverability.
• ROR (Research Organization Registry)coreTechnology or IntegrationScholastica was among the first journal software providers to integrate with ROR institutional identifiers across its peer review system, production service, and OA publishing platform, enabling better institutional affiliation tracking.
• Discovery Services and Academic IndexescoreTechnology or IntegrationScholastica's XML output is optimized for academic indexes, archives, and discovery services. The platform is designed to help journals get indexed in major academic discovery platforms and databases.
• Maverick (Survey Partner)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerScholastica partnered with Maverick to conduct a 2025 global survey of independent scholarly publishers on their current tech stacks and future priorities, resulting in a joint research report.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• JMIR Publications: JMIR Publications operates its own digital publishing platform for open access journals in health and medical research. It is a direct peer in digital-first OA journal publishing with overlapping platform capabilities and similar target audiences among society and academic publishers.
• Silverchair: Silverchair provides a unified platform for scholarly content hosting, discovery, and analytics, serving society and university press publishers. It is a direct peer to Scholastica in journal hosting and production services, though Silverchair typically serves larger, more established organizations.
• Pensoft (ARPHA Publishing Platform): Pensoft's ARPHA Publishing Platform is a fully open-access publishing platform with end-to-end peer review, production, and hosting capabilities. Like Scholastica, ARPHA emphasizes digital-first workflows and serves academic and society publishers, making it a direct peer in journal publishing infrastructure.
• HighWire (MPS Limited): HighWire is a long-established journal publishing platform originally founded by Stanford, now part of MPS Limited. It serves scholarly publishers with peer review, hosting, and discovery tools, making it a direct competitor to Scholastica's offerings, particularly for established STM publishers.
• Public Knowledge Project (Open Journal Systems): PKP's Open Journal Systems (OJS) is a free, open-source journal management and publishing platform widely used by smaller scholarly publishers. As a free alternative to Scholastica's commercial platform, OJS directly competes on cost-sensitive opportunities across the same SMB publisher segment.
• Atypon (Literatum): Atypon's Literatum is a direct competitor in scholarly journal publishing software, offering peer review, production, and hosting services for academic publishers. Like Scholastica, it serves publishers needing modern publishing infrastructure, though Atypon typically focuses on larger commercial and society publishers.

Emerging players

• PeerJ: PeerJ is an open access publisher of peer-reviewed scientific and medical research operating its own platform infrastructure. As a smaller, OA-native publisher with its own technology stack, PeerJ represents an emerging player with overlapping platform capabilities and target audiences.
• F1000Research (Taylor & Francis): F1000Research operates an open research publishing platform with post-publication peer review, representing an emerging model that intersects with Scholastica's traditional pre-publication peer review focus. Acquired by Taylor & Francis, it represents an alternative paradigm in scholarly publishing infrastructure.
• Knowledge Unlatched: Knowledge Unlatched provides open access publishing infrastructure and funding mechanisms for scholarly books and journals. While more focused on OA funding models, it intersects with Scholastica's OA hosting mission and addresses similar small/medium publisher audiences.

Broad incumbents

• Elsevier: Elsevier operates ScienceDirect and other major scholarly publishing platforms, serving the largest commercial publishers and academic institutions globally. As a broad incumbent with extensive resources, Elsevier competes for publisher mind share at the upper end of the market where Scholastica does not directly target.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/JPRM_editor
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/scholastica
• Facebookfacebook.com/JournalofParticipatoryMethods

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Journal of Participatory Research Methods