European STM Information Market

September 2009 | 49 pages | ID: E87CF2C9179EN
IRN Research

Abstracts

Growth in the European STM (scientific, technical and medical) information market remains resilient despite the current economic and financial problems. According to European STM Information Market, a new report from IRN Research, European STM information market growth in 2008 was 4.5%. Although this is the weakest year-on-year growth since 2001, the STM information market is still achieving better results than most other information markets. Most of the leading STM information providers also registered double-digit profits growth in 2008 continuing the trend of recent years.

Most research and development spending, a key driver of STM information demand, is part of a long-term planning process and declines in advertising spending have a limited impact on most STM information segments. The majority of revenues also come from subscription services which are less affected by cyclical trends and downturns.

We are likely to look back on 2009 as the year various emerging developments finally became mainstream, such as open access publishing and e-books. Web 2.0 developments are also likely to play an increasing role in the exchange and use of STM information. The economic downturn is having an effect here as some users look for alternatives to paid-for information services.

Selected themes from the report include:

• The healthcare sector continues to be a main driver of sales with clinical decision support solutions, particularly those at the point of care, leading sales growth. Sales to the pharmaceutical industry remain weak, following declines in drug launches and reductions in promotional spending.
• The academic market continues to face budget cuts in real terms.
• Interest in open access has increased substantially in the last 12 months driven by demands for mandatory open access publishing by research funding bodies, more investment in open access publishing models by leading publishers, and increased understanding of open access among STM authors.
• After a number of years on the margins, the supply of, and demand for, e-books has grown significantly in the last 12 months. E-books sales have begun to be a major contributor to sales growth in the sector.
• Workflow and content management solutions, and added-value features such as data mining and analytics tools are increasingly being developed by leading providers to gain a competitive edge.
• Interest in STM networking and collaborative sites is beginning to grow. An IRN survey of academic STM researchers notes that relatively few were using these sites at the start of 2009 but a majority are expecting to turn to these sites in the next year or so.

The European STM Information Market, published by IRN Research in September 2009, provides an analysis of market trends and issues (with data from 2005-2008), market forecasts for 2009 and 2010, profiles of key STM information providers, a review of emerging STM networking sites, and results of surveys of UK STM researchers and information professionals undertaken in November/December 2008.

Contents

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

2. STM ONLINE INFORMATION MARKET TRENDS

2.1 Market Size
2.2 Annual Sales and Profits
2.3 Market Trends and Issues
  2.3.1 Journal Prices
  2.3.2 Open Access
  2.3.3 Ebooks
  2.3.4 Networking and Resource Sharing Sites

3. SUPPLIER TRENDS

3.1 Overview
3.2 Main Acquisitions and Mergers
3.3 Leading STM Information Companies
  BMJ Publishing Group
  CABI
  CMPMedica
  EDP Sciences
  Elsevier
  Informa
  INIST-CNRS
  Nature Publishing Group
  Proquest (CSA)
  PubMed
  Questel Orbit
  Sage Publications
  Springer Science + Business Media
  STN International/FIZ Karlsruhe
  Thieme Publishing Group
  Thomson Reuters
  Wiley
  Wolters Kluwer
  Other Selected Companies
  EBSCO Industries
  Prenax Global
  Publishing Technology
  Swets

4. PRIMARY RESEARCH – UK ACADEMIC RESEARCHERS

4.1 Overview
4.2 STM Information Services Used
4.3 Ejournals/ebooks
4.4 Document and Article Submission
4.5 Networking and Resource Sharing Sites
4.6 Academic Librarians

5. FUTURE TRENDS

5.1 Market Forecasts 2009/2010
5.2 R&D Expenditure Trends
5.3 Market Trends and Issues
5.4 Summary of Future Market Influences