Subscriptions and Standards
Liebert is acquired, and there's more funny business at eLife — but they aren't laughing
Recent news seems to have two themes — a retrenchment of standards to preserve our professional zone and its defining boundaries, and a quiet return to recurring revenues, as seen in a recent acquisition.
First, we have one of the best-kept secrets in scholarly publishing of late — Sage’s acquisition of Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. Financial terms were not revealed, as befits a transaction between two privately held companies. An OA mindset might focus on the fact that acquiring Liebert will bump Sage’s annual article output by about 10%, but since most of Liebert’s content is subscription (OA share peaked in 2020 there at ~45% of articles, and is now down to ~15%), the acquisition actually bolsters Sage’s recurring revenues by a guesstimate of $85M or more, with the rest coming from APCs.
Liebert incorporated first in 1980, making it one of the more enduring independent medical publishers. But OA, the passage of time, and the costs of technology continue to drive consolidation, especially as entrepreneurs age out and step down. This looks like a decent spot for Mary Ann Liebert to transfer her sizable legacy, with an imprint remaining in place bearing her name.
Next, we have some more funny business around eLife.