Periodical Publishers NAICS 513120

Mar 13, 2025 - Rising Academic Journal Subscription Prices may Hurt Scholarly Research

• Academic journal price increases may hinder of future research, according to The Michigan Daily. Many researchers rely on published articles to guide their studies, and increasing journal prices may limit access to those articles. Chloe Brookes, a research assistant for three social psychology labs, notes that increasing journal costs have the potential to encourage homogeneous ideas in academia. “Academic journals offer context for your area of interest and help focus research questions, not to mention peer-reviewed reliable information,” Brookes said. “Academic journals, rightfully so, are criticized for their shortcomings involving representation and in their lack of accessibility. Rising costs of these journals will only exacerbate this issue.”
• Periodical publishers are advocating for data-driven partnerships with supermarkets to increase sales, according to Supermarket News. "We need to coordinate our databases with databases of the retailer to promote directly to consumers to come into particular stores to buy magazines," said Efrem "Skip" Zimbalist, chairman and chief executive officer of Active Interest Media. This could be done partly by "embracing the ability of smartphones to use location abilities to message consumers while they’re in the stores," Zimbalist added. "We could tell consumers about a new issue of a magazine, with a new recipe on the cover, and then send them a coupon." Partnerships that leverage both magazine industry databases and retailer loyalty programs have big potential, according to Bob Sauerberg, president of Condé Nast.

• The comic book and periodical industry is experiencing consolidation of small companies and acquisition of large companies by even larger, multi-genre publishers, according to information sector news site Clownfish TV. Boom! Studios recently sold itself to Penguin Random House, for example, and Dark Horse sold to Embracer Group in 2021. Many small comic book firms struggle financially, leading to mergers and to creators seeking movie and animation deals for financial success, according to Clownfish TV. Some larger comic book companies were started with the intention of selling them to major publishing firms. The comic book industry is facing distribution changes and low sales, but there is still high demand for certain products, according to Clownfish TV.
• Periodical publishing industry employment decreased slightly while average wages for nonsupervisory employees increased slightly during the first month of 2025, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Periodical publishers increased prices moderately during the first nine months of 2024 before decreasing them through the remainder of the year, according to the BLS. Periodical publisher sales are forecast to grow at a -0.9% compounded annual rate from 2024 to 2028, slower than the growth of the overall economy, according to Inforum and the Interindustry Economic Research Fund, Inc.