Big Five Academic Publishers

[Rode Neagle]

TheUniversity of Nebraska Consortium of Libraries (UNCL) negotiates for shared licenses, so that UNO, UNMC, UNL, and UNK have similar access to major resources. UNCL recently completed negotiations with Elsevier for a license with ScienceDirect, so all the University of Nebraska libraries now have access to journals published by the Big Five academic journal publishers.

New research has found that the market share of the world's largest research publishing houses has skyrocketed since the 1970s, with five corporations now controlling 50 percent of all the journal articles that are published.

The study also found that, while these companies charge large fees for people to access this research, they don't add much value themselves - suggesting that the current model is no longer in the best interests of scientists or universities.

"These large commercial publishers have huge sales, with profit margins of nearly 40 percent," study leader Vincent Larivire from the University of Montreal in Canada said in a press release. "While it's true that publishers have historically played a vital role in the dissemination of scientific knowledge in the print era, it is questionable whether they are still necessary in today's digital era."

Publishing their results in the open-access journal PLOS ONE, the team looked at all scientific articles published in the Web of Science database between 1973 and 2013, and found that five companies have published more than half of them since 2006: Reed-Elsevier, Taylor & Francis, Wiley-Blackwell, Springer and Sage.

Back in 1973, the same publishing houses controlled just 20 percent of the journals, and 30 percent in 1996. But over the past two decades, that has rapidly increase thanks to a slew of rapid mergers and acquisitions.

Some fields are more independent, in particular the areas of biomedical research, physics, and the arts and humanities. But the team found that almost 70 percent of journal articles published in chemistry, psychology and social sciences are owned by the big players.

What makes things worse is that the publishers have now established an incredibly lucrative business model based on taking advantage of scientists to create content for them for free, and then selling it to back to them once it's published. In fact, publishers don't even pay for quality control - which is done by other scientists for free in the form of peer review - and their overheads are much lower since the arrival of the Internet.

All of this begs the question: what exactly are we paying these big publishers for? "One would expect that a major publisher acquiring a journal would have the effect of increasing the latter's visibility. However, our study shows that there is no clear increase in terms of citations after switching from a small to large publisher," said Larivire.

This isn't the first time the publishing model has been criticised - over the past couple of years, researchers and universities have begun to protest against the monopoly in publishing. The Cost of Knowledge campaign, which calls for a boycott of Elsevier's journals, has been signed by more than 15,000 researchers.

But unfortunately while young academics still need to publish in high impact journals to get hired, scientists will have to submit their articles to these companies. And as long as the most important research in each field is stuck behind a paywall, universities will pay for their researchers to access it, creating a cycle that keeps the big publishers in business.

Still, hopefully research such as this will help scientists realise that they don't need publishers to help them distribute their content anymore. "Our findings question the real added value of big publishers," said Larivire. "Ultimately, the question is whether the services provided to the scientific community by these publishers warrant the growing share of university budgets allocated to them."

Professor Larivire and his colleagues obtained their results by analyzing all scientific articles indexed in the Web of Science database and published between 1973 and 2013. Then, to trace the evolution of journal ownership in the complex and dynamic market of academic publishing, the researchers reviewed the history of mergers and acquisitions and the publishers' online press releases as well as their profiles. "Looking more closely at the various research disciplines, we noted that some disciplines have escaped the control of the major publishers," said Larivire. "This is the case of biomedical research, physics, and the arts and humanities. In the case of the arts and humanities, this is explained by the greater number of local books and journals that disseminate research and have transitioned more slowly to digital format. Conversely, more than two thirds of journals in chemistry, psychology, social sciences, and the professional fields are published by one of the major publishers."

Several factors help to explain the incredible profitability of this industry. In particular, the publishers do not have to pay for the articles or their quality control, which are freely provided by the scientific community. Furthermore, the publishers have a monopoly on the content of journals, which, in digital format, can be published as a single copy whose access is then sold to multiple buyers.

The scientific community has begun to protest against the aggressive commercial practices of the major publishers, said Larivire, citing the example of the "Cost of Knowledge" campaign, which encourages researchers to stop participating as authors, editors, and reviewers of Elsevier journals. In addition, universities have stopped negotiating with the major publishers and have threatened to boycott them, while some have simply cancelled their subscriptions to these journals. The extent of the movement is limited, however, because journals are still a source of scientific capital for researchers. "As long as publishing in high impact factor journals is a requirement for researchers to obtain positions, research funding, and recognition from peers, the major commercial publishers will maintain their hold on the academic publishing system," Larivire said.

Indeed, large publishers have the infrastructure and resources needed to publish and disseminate scientific journals. "One would expect that a major publisher acquiring a journal would have the effect of increasing the latter's visibility. However, our study shows that there is no clear increase in terms of citations after switching from a small to large publisher," Larivire exclaimed. "Our findings question the real added value of big publishers. Ultimately, the question is whether the services provided to the scientific community by these publishers warrant the growing share of university budgets allocated to them."

The academic publishing industry generates around $19 billion annually globally. However, around 50% of that revenue is distributed between only 5 major players. Similarly to the book publishing industry, which has its own big five, academic publishing is dominated by a few major companies.

You might recall some of the names mentioned here if not all of them. Perhaps you remember seeing them at the book fairs you attended as a child (e.g., Scholastic has been hosting great fairs until this day).

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) is an American publishing company that provides educational materials in hard copy and digital form for students of all ages. Similar to other college textbook publishers, HMH specializes in textbooks, instructional technology materials, assessments, and reference works. They also provide services in niche educational sectors like homeschool materials and GO Math! Academy to encourage informed young citizens. HMH is also behind the well-known Cliffsnotes. Apart from textbooks, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt publishes The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. The company is headquartered in the Boston Financial District and was previously known as Houghton Mifflin Company. In 2007, following its acquisition of Harcourt Publishing, the company changed its name to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Based in Germany, Bertelsmann is a multi-faceted company that serves publication and media needs. It has a diverse portfolio of businesses that includes publishing, education, and media. They own the broadcasting company RTL Group, publisher Penguin Random House, music company BMG, and magazine publisher Gruner + Jahr. These companies are in addition to those that share the Bertelsmann name: Bertelsmann Printing Group, Bertelsmann Education Group, and Bertelsmann Investments. They contribute greatly to global entrepreneurship and the humanities through their efforts and have established close relationships with various organizations and countries.

Emerald Group Publishing, or Emerald Publishing, is a scholarly publisher of academic journals and books headquartered in Leeds, England. The company was founded in the United Kingdom in 1967 as Management Consultants Bradford (MCB) UP Ltd and changed its name to Emerald in 2002. Originally focused on social sciences and management, Emerald has expanded its publishing areas to include health, science, engineering, and technology. This textbook publisher now focuses on research through its efforts and many partnerships.

Macmillan Learning is one of the top educational publishing companies that provides a broad range of academic resources such as textbooks, eBooks, and digital course materials for students and educators. They aim to help instructors and students with a variety of courses, including, but not limited to, psychology, nutrition, chemistry, economics, and political science. Macmillan Learning also offers affordable digital and rental options through its student store. This allows students to access high-quality educational resources without breaking the bank. These options are particularly useful for students who are looking to save money while still accessing the best possible learning resources.

3a8082e126