Except for the first 3 years of my career, when I worked for a law book publisher, all of my employers have been scholarly and professional societies that served the fields of electrical engineering, statistics, and pharmacology. In my experience, the publishing activities of scholarly societies are focused on serving their communities and furthering their fields of research and practice, above all else. Yes, societies usually make money from publishing. Sometimes, they make quite a lot of money. But profit is not the driving force – losses are accepted as a cost of being mission driven, and surpluses go back into the discipline.

My current employer, the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, published two journals (out of four total) that lost money for decades. Why would they do that? Plainly put, financial profit was not the primary objective. The first purpose of the society, as stated in its constitution, is to promote pharmacological knowledge. The journals were and continue to be important to the field of pharmacology and the organization's members, so the society kept them going long after others would have shut them down. That is the difference between learned society journals and publishing programs focused on profit.

The Scientific Society Publisher Alliance sums up this dedication as publishing “by scientists for science.” Scientists who are active in their field are the primary decision‐makers for society publications. Society staff offer informed guidance and advice, but ultimately, our job is to carry out the directives and achieve the goals set by the organization's elected and volunteer leadership. In scientific and professional societies, scientists and other researchers are de facto publishers – where we understand publishing, ultimately, to be the public dissemination of scientific outputs. Faculty and researchers at academic, government, and private institutions are making the important decisions (and some little ones as well) for their society's publishing programme. Publishing often supports nearly all other society activities.

The productive relationships that members develop within a scholarly society can form a foundation for the success of those members and the organization. Long‐time members often refer to their society as their professional home, and it enables them to build a family within their field of study. Scholarly societies provide a means for researchers to share their knowledge and the passion they have for their discipline. They present their findings, learn from others, and collaborate with fellow researchers at annual meetings, colloquia, and other events. They offer the benefit of their expertise and experience to younger researchers, which builds the community and helps ensure the future of the discipline.

A society's travel awards make it possible for students to attend a research conference – most for the first time. Mentoring programmes run by many societies help young researchers early on to develop professionally and personally. Members at all career levels find opportunities for collaboration and learning through society meetings, workshops, and a growing number of online communities. Mid‐career and senior researchers often have organizational and management skills and experience, and many generously share those skills and experiences by serving on committees, on advisory boards, and in other leadership positions, furthering their careers with volunteer activities that enrich their curriculum vitae. Non‐members also enjoy the benefits of attending annual meetings and other research‐focused events organized by scholarly and professional organizations. At my organization, all of these activities and others are supported by our publishing programme and would not be possible without it.

As for many scholarly and professional societies, our publishing programme is woven throughout much of our annual meeting and some other programmes. We run a workshop at the meeting that teaches early career researchers about the peer review process, ethical issues in publishing, and how to be a good reviewer. Attendees get to interact with editors and editorial board members, which they tell us is valuable. Symposia presentations are usually linked to published research that appears either before or after the meeting, some of it in our journals. Our editorial board meetings are held at the annual meeting. They focus on their respective journals, of course, but these gatherings often lead to conversations after the meeting that further research and build connections. Publishing and the activities that flow from it support my organization's mission to disseminate pharmacological knowledge.

Scholarly and professional societies contribute to the development of new findings through their activities. Their publishing programmes disseminate those findings while helping to develop the careers of their members, further the organization's field of study, and support programmes for students and early career researchers that might not otherwise exist. Some societies translate highly technical research findings for the media and the general public, connecting the dots between science and everyday life. Because profit is not our primary motivator, we offer our journals at reasonable prices with the manuscript version of primary research articles available for free to all, allowing for the widest possible distribution. We are not alone (among society publishers) in doing this or some variation on it. We make the copyedited and formatted version of all content freely accessible for a rolling 5‐year window. Other societies that self‐publish make content freely accessible for even longer periods.

I have been in my current job long enough to see members, particularly early career researchers, grow and develop in their careers via their volunteer work in and support offered by the society – serving as editorial board members, authors, presenters, and more. It is very rewarding to know that the work I do contributes to that development in some small way, and this sets us apart from commercial publishers. That knowledge and the relationships I have built with the society's members, editors, and editorial board members have motivated me to stay in non‐profit society publishing for nearly 40 years. Most importantly, I know that I am working for scientists and carrying out their goals for our journals.