Growth for STM publishers in 2008

["Janice Kuta, STM" <kuta@stm-assoc.org>]

PRESS RELEASE

Growth for STM publishers in 2008

STM releases new report on scientific and scholarly journal 
publishing

Oxford, UK -- 13 October 2009

The International Association of Scientific, Technical, and 
Medical Publishers (STM -- www.stm-assoc.org) has published, "The 
STM Report: An overview of scientific and scholarly journal 
publishing", a follow-up to the 2006 report, "Scientific 
publishing in transition: an overview of current developments".

Funded by STM, and prepared by Mark Ware Consulting and STM, "The 
STM Report" collects the available evidence, and provides a 
comprehensive picture of the trends and currents in scholarly 
communication. It shows that scholarly communications are 
undergoing profound changes driven by technology and economic 
factors, while authors" core motivations to publish remain 
stable.

Annual revenues generated from English-language STM journal 
publishing are estimated at $8 billion in 2008, up by 6-7% 
compared to 2007, within a broader STM publishing market worth 
some $16 billion. About 55% of global STM revenues (including 
non-journal STM products) come from the USA, 30% from Europe, 10% 
from Asia/Pacific and 5% from the rest of the world.

Continued growth in output, particularly from China and East 
Asia, will put further pressure on the system, especially when 
combined with funders" desire for greater return on research 
investments and the pressures on researchers to accelerate the 
research cycle.

There are approximately 2000 journal publishers globally, and the 
main English-language trade and professional associations for 
journal publishers include 657 publishers producing around 11,550 
journals - about 50% of the total journal output by title. Of 
these, 477 publishers (73%) and 2334 journals (20%) are 
not-for-profit.

There were about 25,400 active scholarly peer-reviewed journals 
in early 2009, collectively publishing about 1.5 million articles 
a year. The number of articles published each year and the number 
of journals have both grown steadily for over two centuries, by 
about 3% and 3.5% per year respectively. The reason is the 
equally persistent growth in the number of researchers, which has 
also grown at about 3% per year and now stands at between 5.5 and 
10 million, depending on definition, although only about 20% of 
these are repeat authors.

The "STM Report" also shows that the debate over business models 
and access to information paradoxically occurs at a time when 
access to literature has never been wider nor cost per download 
lower. Within this maturing debate, there remains an increased 
interest on an evidence-based approach to these various business 
models

"The STM Report" will be updated and released once every three 
years, presenting an overview of the current state of the world 
of scientific journal publishing.

"There is a real need for regular, evidence-based overviews of 
the publishing landscape for a wide range of constituencies," 
said Michael Mabe CEO of STM. "I am proud that STM has been able 
to satisfy this requirement for our sector."

STM is an international association of over 100 scientific, 
technical, medical and scholarly publishers, collectively 
responsible for more than 60% of the global annual output of 
research articles, 55% of the active research journals and the 
publication of tens of thousands of print and electronic books, 
reference works and databases. It is the only international trade 
association equally representing all types of STM publishers - 
large and small companies, not for profit organizations, learned 
societies, traditional, primary, secondary publishers and new 
entrants to global publishing.

Mark Ware Consulting provides publishing consultancy services to 
the STM and B2B sectors.

For further information, please contact:

Michael Mabe, mabe@stm-assoc.org or phone +44 1865 339321

Janice E. Kuta
Director of Marketing & Membership
International Association of Scientific, Technical & Medical 
Publishers