Media industry forecast and analysis firm Simba Information has released a report that says the market for social science and humanities publishing has managed to grow over the past year. This is in spite of challenges from disruptive technologies, an uncertain future for its traditional publishing model and a titanic global recession.
According to the report, ‘Social Science and Humanities Publishing 2009-2010’, the sector saw a 1.6 percent growth in total sales to $2.4 billion in 2009. Poor economic conditions in the US hurt book sales and put publishers' recurring journal subscription revenue in question as library budgets tightened.
It has been observed that social science and humanities publishers often take a back seat to the scientific, technical and medical (STM) publishing sector. This is because revenue is tied to scholarly monographs with niche appeal, and these journals mostly don't attract the commercial interest of their STM counterparts. Still many small commercial publishers specialising in social science and humanities sustain levels of profit sufficient to satisfy their investors.
These presses confront substantial challenges, but also encounter significant opportunities, it has been noted. Advanced software and techniques for composition, cheaper digitisation and file storage mechanisms, sophisticated online content management systems, and short-run and print-on-demand services help presses lower costs for new publications and support their backlist titles. Similarly, the growth of the web, discovery tools such as search engines, and the opening of new distribution channels such as Amazon.com have made it possible to reach new markets beyond university libraries.
To exploit these opportunities, social science and humanities publishers must make strategic investments in existing and emerging forms of publication; continuously review their more specialised processes; and make technical and other investments wherever possible to reduce costs. In addition, presses need to form strategic alliances among themselves to strengthen and improve the publishing services they provide to the scholarly community.
The report seeks to provide an overview and financial outlook for the global social science and humanities publishing markets based on specific research and analysis of the leading competitors' performance. The research was conducted in conjunction with a larger study of the overall market for professional publishing. The market for social sciences and humanities are divided into four content delivery channels: books, journals, online services (including abstracting and indexing) and other, a category that includes audio, video and CD-ROM information.
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