Re: Graphing the Bergstrom and McAfee Journal Pricing Data

[Morna Conway <mconway@infionline.net>]

There is certainly reason for confusion!  Wolters Kluwer owns LWW (as well 
as OVID).  The following quote from the Springer website describes the 
Springer-Kluwer Academic merger:

"In 1999, Bertelsmann AG acquired a majority share in the scientific 
publishing company Springer-Verlag for its professional information 
division, having previously bought up B.G. Teubner, which it brought into 
the "marriage" with Springer, along with other well-known publishing 
houses such as Gabler and Heinrich Vogel, to create BertelsmannSpringer.

In April 2003, Kluwer Academic Publishers and then the BertelsmannSpringer 
Group were taken over by the British financial investors Cinven and 
Candover. Soon afterwards, in October 2003, the company was renamed 
Springer Science+Business Media."

It would be helpful if Philip Davis could clarify the Major Publishers 
listing, as certainly Springer belongs in there, but so, one would 
imagine, does Wolters Kluwer (or Lippincott Williams & Wilkins as an 
entity under Wolters-Kluwer).

Morna H. Conway, Ph.D.
Journal Publishing Consultant
Office: (931) 684-5588
Email: mconway@infionline.net


On 11/30/05 5:57 PM, "Lisa Dittrich" <lrdittrich@aamc.org> wrote:

> I'd like to clarify what I think is a big error in the Bergstrom and
> McAfee data to begin with, which you should probably clarify for your
> graphs:  they have somehow merged Springer-Verlag and LWW/Wolters Kluwer.
> I can understand how this might happen, given all the varied mergers in
> the world of publishing, but it again weakens my confidence in anything
> these guys are doing.  Now, I clearly have been mixed up myself before,
> but since our journal is published by LWW/Wolters Kluwer, I think I should
> have at least PART of this right this time.
>
> Lisa
>
> P.S.  This is not to diminish the hard work you have clearly done to make
> their data more user friendly!
>
> Lisa Dittrich
> Managing Editor
> Academic Medicine
> Washington,D.C. 20037
> lrdittrich@aamc.org (e-mail)