# Scholarly journal publishing programmes
A scholarly journal publishing program is a managed portfolio of journal titles run by one publisher under shared infrastructure, brand, and commercial strategy, rather than the operation of a single journal. The distinction matters because the market is extremely skewed: of 7,522 publishers indexed in Scopus, 78.6% publish a single journal yet together contribute only 21.3% of indexed journals, while the 25 publishers (0.3%) that publish 100 or more journals account for 44.5% of all Scopus-indexed journals, 12,363 titles.[1](https://www.mdpi.com/2304-6775/13/2/17) Programme-scale publishing therefore accounts for a large share of the market's indexed output.[1](https://www.mdpi.com/2304-6775/13/2/17)
| Key fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Big 5 journal counts (Scopus) | Elsevier 2,125; Springer 1,842; Wiley 1,537; Taylor & Francis 1,421; SAGE 914[1](https://www.mdpi.com/2304-6775/13/2/17) |
| Top-5 share of articles, 2024 | 61%, up from 52% in 2018[2](https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2025/08/20/2025-update-quantifying-consolidation-in-the-scholarly-journals-market/) |
| Top-5 share including ESCI | 57%, equivalent to 2020 levels[2](https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2025/08/20/2025-update-quantifying-consolidation-in-the-scholarly-journals-market/) |
| Five largest by article volume | Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley, MDPI, Taylor & Francis[3](https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0327015&type=printable) |
| Active university journals worldwide | Over 19,000; 76.3% of DOAJ-indexed ones charge no APC[4](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11192-025-05535-4) |
| European institutional publishers fully OA and diamond for journals | 71% of 685 surveyed[5](https://www.enssib.fr/bibliotheque-numerique/documents/71831-the-european-landscape-of-institutional-publishing.pdf) |
## What a journal publishing program is
Running journals as a program means a publisher applies common editorial infrastructure, production workflows, platforms, sales channels, and commercial strategy across many titles. Researchers who study publisher structure distinguish publisher volume (the number of journals a publisher produces) from size (economic scale) and from influence; volume is the quantifiable measure of program scale.[1](https://www.mdpi.com/2304-6775/13/2/17) A webscraping methodology has also been used to identify and rank the 100 largest scientific publishers by journal count, giving a data-driven measure of portfolio scale.[6](https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JD-04-2022-0083/full/html)
The practical consequence of program scale is structural. Studies of Scopus publishing patterns find that these structural differences shape access models, funding mechanisms, citation rates, and editorial policies.[1](https://www.mdpi.com/2304-6775/13/2/17)
## Portfolio scale and market structure
The commercial programs dominate by title count. In Scopus, the Big 5 publish Elsevier 2,125 journals, Springer 1,842, Wiley 1,537, [Taylor & Francis](https://www.edgepedia.org/taylor-and-francis) 1,421, and SAGE 914.[1](https://www.mdpi.com/2304-6775/13/2/17) Measured by article output instead of titles, the current five largest publishers are Elsevier, Springer Nature, [Wiley](https://www.edgepedia.org/wiley-publisher), MDPI, and Taylor & Francis.[3](https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0327015&type=printable)
Consolidation by article share has accelerated recently. Between 2018 and 2024 the five largest publishers' share grew from 52% to 61% of total articles, with the ten and twenty largest growing 10% and 8% respectively over the same six years.[2](https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2025/08/20/2025-update-quantifying-consolidation-in-the-scholarly-journals-market/) The longer history shows two earlier phases: from 2000 to 2006 the top five rose from 39% to 49%, coinciding with the rise of the Big Deal, then consolidation slowed to about 3% between 2007 and 2017.[2](https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2025/08/20/2025-update-quantifying-consolidation-in-the-scholarly-journals-market/)
Measured scale also depends on which database counts the journals. When the expanded ESCI index is included in the analysis, the five largest publishers account for only 57% of total articles, about 4 percentage points less and equivalent to 2020 levels.[2](https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2025/08/20/2025-update-quantifying-consolidation-in-the-scholarly-journals-market/)
## Editorial and business models
Rising subscription prices historically forced many academic libraries to cancel serials subscriptions and cut monograph purchases, the so-called [serials crisis](https://www.edgepedia.org/serials-crisis).[7](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/mde.3454) [Structural analysis](https://www.edgepedia.org/structural-analysis) finds that OA and non-OA journals show nearly identical mean quartiles, so business model alone does not determine a journal's citation standing.[1](https://www.mdpi.com/2304-6775/13/2/17)
Ownership and editing are often separated from publishing. Of 21,886 [Web of Science](https://www.edgepedia.org/web-of-science) indexed journals, 66% are published by a sole organization type (professional, research organization, or society) and 34% by combinations of organization types; the most common collaboration is a professional publisher working with a scholarly society.[8](https://doi.org/10.1162/qss.a.14) The balance has shifted over time: society publishers' share in Scopus declined from 65% in 1989 to 44% in 2021, while in Web of Science it rose from 33% in 1980 to 59%.[3](https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0327015&type=printable)
## Consolidation and its contested measurement
The headline consolidation number depends on the database doing the counting. Recent analyses put the top five at 61% of articles by 2024.[2](https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2025/08/20/2025-update-quantifying-consolidation-in-the-scholarly-journals-market/) But Dimensions' inclusive indexing retrieved 32% more articles for 1980–2021 than the more selective Web of Science, and shows small-publisher output growing rapidly since about 2000, implying less concentration than WoS-based analyses suggest.[3](https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0327015&type=printable)
Recent volume shifts at the two large open-access publishers did not soften the trend. MDPI and Frontiers experienced declining article volumes in 2023 and 2024 without significantly changing consolidation; articles leaving them appear to move largely to other large publishers' journals.[2](https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2025/08/20/2025-update-quantifying-consolidation-in-the-scholarly-journals-market/) So even churn among the largest OA players has redirected output toward the largest programs rather than the long tail.
## Institutional, society and university-press programs
Institutional programs operate at a different scale and economics. A global mapping identified over 19,000 active university journals; apart from a few large university presses that function on the volume and business logics of international for-profit publishers, the vast majority operate with limited resources, on a non-profit basis, supporting disciplinary and regionally grounded scholarship.[4](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11192-025-05535-4) Among university journals indexed in DOAJ, 2,108 (23.7%) charge APCs and 6,796 (76.3%) do not, indicating most operate under a Diamond open access model.[4](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11192-025-05535-4)
A survey of 685 European institutional publishers shows the typical program is small: over 90% work with journals, two-thirds run between 1 and 5 journals, and 71% are both fully OA and fully diamond for journals.[5](https://www.enssib.fr/bibliotheque-numerique/documents/71831-the-european-landscape-of-institutional-publishing.pdf) Funding follows the diamond model: 54% of entirely diamond institutional publishers rely on a fixed and permanent subsidy from a parent organization, with others using voluntary author contributions (23.5%), time-limited grants or subsidies (about 50%), and content or print sales (31%).[5](https://www.enssib.fr/bibliotheque-numerique/documents/71831-the-european-landscape-of-institutional-publishing.pdf)
Growth is possible within this sector. Edinburgh University Press grew its journals business from six titles in 1992 to nearly 60 journals in 2025, exceeding £1m in annual journal subscription sales, and is running a Subscribe to Open pilot for two journals to trial that equitable open access model, with a view to expanding if successful.[9](https://euppublishingblog.com/2024/03/14/eup-75-our-journals-publishing/)
## Recent developments
Three evidence-based developments stand out. First, consolidation continued: the top five reached 61% of articles by 2024.[2](https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2025/08/20/2025-update-quantifying-consolidation-in-the-scholarly-journals-market/) Second, article volumes at [MDPI](https://www.edgepedia.org/mdpi) and Frontiers declined in 2023 and 2024, with the displaced articles flowing mainly to other large publishers.[2](https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2025/08/20/2025-update-quantifying-consolidation-in-the-scholarly-journals-market/) Third, US federal open-access policy changed: as of 2026 (with the NIH policy effective July 1, 2025), US federal funding agencies require publications to be made publicly accessible immediately upon their release.[2](https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2025/08/20/2025-update-quantifying-consolidation-in-the-scholarly-journals-market/) These policies, plus possible APC caps, are expected to drive further consolidation toward the largest publishers through transformative agreements.[2](https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2025/08/20/2025-update-quantifying-consolidation-in-the-scholarly-journals-market/) On the institutional side, Edinburgh University Press's Subscribe to Open pilot represents a small-scale test of subscription-to-OA conversion.[9](https://euppublishingblog.com/2024/03/14/eup-75-our-journals-publishing/)
## References
1. [Does Publisher Volume Matter? A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Scopus Journal Publishing Patterns](https://www.mdpi.com/2304-6775/13/2/17)
2. [2025 Update: Quantifying Consolidation in the Scholarly Journals Market](https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2025/08/20/2025-update-quantifying-consolidation-in-the-scholarly-journals-market/)
3. [Scholarly publishing's hidden diversity: How exclusive databases sustain the oligopoly of academic publishers](https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0327015&type=printable)
4. [University journals in the global academic publishing landscape: Mapping over 19,000 diverse titles based on Ulrichsweb data](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11192-025-05535-4)
5. [The European landscape of institutional publishing (DIAMAS project)](https://www.enssib.fr/bibliotheque-numerique/documents/71831-the-european-landscape-of-institutional-publishing.pdf)
6. [Who are the 100 largest scientific publishers by journal count? A webscraping approach](https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JD-04-2022-0083/full/html)
7. [Economic perspectives on the future of academic publishing: Introduction to the special issue](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/mde.3454)
8. [Mapping the publisher types and collaborations behind Web of Science indexed journals](https://doi.org/10.1162/qss.a.14)
9. [EUP 75: Our Journals Publishing](https://euppublishingblog.com/2024/03/14/eup-75-our-journals-publishing/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Broadcasting and journalism › Periodicals and publishing › Publishing and publishing houses › Scholarly publishing and journals infrastructure › Journal publishers and journal reference lists › Journal publishing programs (overview)*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026 · Last review: Sep 30, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license