SPRINGER

The organisational merger between the two scientific publishing companies Springer-Verlag and Kluwer Academic Publishers (KAP) that was announced in February 2004 has now largely been completed. Since the start of July, Springer-Verlag and KAP have been operating under the joint 'Springer' brand.

A new logo has also been developed, and will appear on the majority of products in time for the Frankfurt Book Fair in October. As part of the organisational merger, all divisions are now globally organised, including the publishing, sales, and marketing activities. This will ensure global coordination of the programme and a uniform customer service in the future.

The new company has, among others, offices in Berlin, Heidelberg, Dordrecht, Vienna, London, New York, Boston and Tokyo.

As a result of the merger, Springer is now the world's second-largest supplier of scientific literature. Its range of products includes 1,250 journals and some 3,500 new book titles a year. The 'old' Springer-Verlag traditionally focused on clinical medicine, biomedicine, life sciences, economics, statistics, physics, engineering sciences, mathematics, and computer science. By merging with KAP, publications in the humanities and the social sciences have enriched Springer's programme.

Springer is part of the specialist publishing group Springer Science+Business Media, which owns 70 companies throughout the world that produce both scientific literature and specialist information for the business-to-business sector.

New strategy
'Our strategy is to achieve growth from our own efforts, enhance efficiency, and pursue an innovative product policy,' Derk Haank, CEO of the specialist publishing group, emphasises. Mr Haank was appointed CEO in October 2003, and initiated the merger process with Kluwer Academic Publishers when he took up his post in February 2004.

In the science, technology and medicine (STM) sector, Derk Haank is increasing investments in journals, which he claims are gaining ground due to the developments taking place in online publishing. As part of the merger process, Springer-Verlag and KAP have reviewed their business policies in this area.

Author's choice
Effective from July 2004, authors who publish articles in scientific journals can choose between two different publication models. In addition to the existing subscription model, they also have the option of choosing the new Springer Open Choice model.

This model is a novelty because the author, and not the user, assumes the costs of quality and service in the publishing process. His or her article can be freely accessed by the public; the full-text version can be read and downloaded free-of-charge via the online SpringerLink service, without any access restrictions.

As Derk Haank explains, this business model is designed to service the market's new needs: 'The existing traditional subscription model has put us well on our way to efficiently connecting the entire research community electronically. At the same time, however, we want to respond to the demands of the small group of researchers, and certain publicly funded research communities, which are advocating even wider unlimited access to scientific content and who are in a position to pay for that service. Springer Open Choice is therefore not a matter of either/or. We want to offer our authors both options and let them choose. Ultimately, the customers will decide what they want.'

If authors choose the Open Choice model, they will pay a fee of US$3,000, once their article has been reviewed and accepted by the editorial board. The article is then published in both electronic and printed form.

There are no differences between the actual articles published in the Open Choice and the conventional model. They will all be subjected to the same strict, scientific review process and will appear in the established journals.

Articles will also go through Springer's full article processing service, including editing, production, and distribution through the established worldwide channels. Springer will ensure that the articles are linked to all the usual international reference systems in electronic publishing, and will also provide the standard indexing and abstract service. In addition, the articles continue to be protected by full copyright in both electronic and print form.

Digital archiving
Also since the merger, a journal archive project has been initiated and will give researchers almost comprehensive online access to the content of the back issues of all journals published by Springer-Verlag and KAP. The aim of this project is to digitise articles starting from the very first issue. The first backfiles will be launched on the market in January 2005.

contact details

Sabine Schaub, Springer Science+Business Media
Tel: +49 30 / 827 87-5282
Fax: +49 30 / 827 87 5707
Email: sabine.schaub@springer-sbm.com
Web: www.springeronline.com