Environmental sustainability meets digital transformation: Dilemmas and new directions

The academic publishing industry faces a strategic crossroads where environmental sustainability imperatives intersect with digital transformation opportunities. This situation creates challenges that extend beyond simple print-to-digital migration. Drawing on interviews with 10 major publishers, our case shows that effective sustainability strategies rely on hybrid models rather than binary choices. While digital formats reduce carbon emissions, they introduce new complexities in measurement, supply chain governance, and market acceptance. Findings reveal that most of the industry’s carbon footprint originates not from publishers’ own operations but from upstream supplier activities such as paper production, printing, and digital infrastructure, areas over which publishers exert limited direct influence. These indirect emissions dominate both print and digital life cycles yet remain difficult to quantify due to complex global supply chains, variable energy sources, and evolving ICT technologies. Addressing this requires new capabilities in supplier management, cultural change, and compliance with varied regulatory regimes. Five strategic priorities emerge: optimizing hybrid models, orchestrating supply chains, building measurement frameworks, transforming professional markets, and navigating regional regulations. These insights challenge simplistic narratives of digital benefits and offer guidance for balancing innovation with environmental responsibility.