Academic Publishing as a Complex System

Academic publishing is facing growing concerns related to reproducibility, peer review, and accessibility, yet proposed reforms have produced limited systemic change. We examined academic publishing as a complex adaptive system by conducting a thematic analysis of stakeholder interviews, developing a Causal Loop Diagram, and using the Action Scales Model to identify potential leverage points. From 13 stakeholder interviews, we synthesized nine interrelated challenges and mapped structural drivers and feedback loops shaping the system. Reinforcing dynamics linking prestige, evaluation metrics, and commercial incentives appear to sustain high publication volumes and constrain individual agency, even when dysfunction is widely recognized. Event-level actions were largely limited to transparency measures, whereas greater leverage emerged at the levels of system structures, goals, and beliefs. Applying this framework to the reproducibility, peer review, and accessibility crises illustrates how tensions are maintained. These findings highlight the value of complex systems approaches for understanding institutional behaviour and guiding coordinated change.