Re: Taylor &Francis Buys Marcel Dekker

[Fran�ois Lapelerie <lapeleri@voltaire.timone.univ-mrs.fr>]

It's rather difficult. In our days , traditional STM publishers are much
more profitable than much more modern companies (for instance internet
etc). They become much more attractive with globalization. What's
globalization? According to the IMF (International monetary fund:
(http://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/ib/2000/041200.htm#II

"Economic "globalization" is a historical process, the result of human
innovation and technological progress. It refers to the increasing
integration of economies around the world, particularly through trade and
financial flows".  STM publishers are sold, bought, sold and bought again,
often by financial organizations which want only to make money and have no
industrial or intellectual projects. When a financial Cy buys a STM editor
and says: "We will respect the autonomy of the staff of X or Y", that
means: "We don't mind what you are doing : work hard (2 digits margin) and
give us the profit".

Large STM publishers may be bought and sold in bits and pieces by those
companies, which make large profits in this process.  Sometimes thoses
transactions are confidential for financial reasons . And we don't know
who owns what in real time.

Globalization: Threat or Opportunity?" asks FMI. In our case it's a
threat, because STM publishing is not only a financial process or
business. We can notice a real and dangerous concentration of STM
publishers. We had many publishers, then an oligopoly, and why not a
monopoly oneday ?

Francois Lapelerie


>I have begining to have trouble keeping track of who owns what in the STM
>publishing world.  Is there a handy web page somewhere that is tracking
>these mergers and spinnoffs?
>
>Eric D. Albright
>Library Director
>Tufts University Health Sciences Library
>145 Harrison Ave.
>Boston, MA 02111
>eric.albright@tufts.edu
>617-636-2481