Elsevier

Elsevier
source
Name	Elsevier
Type	Private company
Industry	Publishing
Founded	1880 (origins); 1880s Netherlands
Headquarters	Amsterdam, Netherlands
Key people	Kumsal Bayazit (CEO), RELX Group (parent)
Products	Academic journals, books, databases, Scopus, ScienceDirect

Elsevier Elsevier is a multinational publishing company specializing in scientific, technical, and medical literature. Founded from Dutch publishing traditions in the late 19th century, the company grew into a major provider of scholarly journals, books, and digital platforms used by researchers, universities, corporations, and libraries. Elsevier operates within a global ecosystem that includes indexing services, metrics providers, and research analytics, interacting with institutions such as research universities, funding agencies, and professional societies.

History

Origins trace back to Dutch printing families and Continental publishing houses in the 19th century, evolving through mergers and acquisitions similar to patterns seen with Reed Elsevier predecessors and other European firms. During the 20th century Elsevier expanded internationally, acquiring titles and partnering with learned societies such as the American Chemical Society, the Royal Society, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the company transitioned from print to digital platforms, launching products comparable to JSTOR, Web of Science, and PubMed in scope. Corporate restructuring placed Elsevier under the umbrella of RELX Group, aligning it with divisions focused on data analytics and information services used by entities such as Thomson Reuters and Bloomberg L.P..

Business Model and Products

Elsevier’s business model centers on subscription-based access to scholarly content and value-added services for institutions. Core products include electronic journal collections delivered via platforms akin to ScienceDirect and bibliographic databases similar to Scopus and EMBASE. The company sells licensing agreements to research libraries at universities such as Harvard University, University of Oxford, and Stanford University as well as to corporate R&D departments at companies like Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, and Siemens. Elsevier also offers analytics and research management tools competing with offerings from Clarivate, Google Scholar, and Microsoft Academic. Revenue streams derive from institutional subscriptions, article processing charges paid by authors or funders, and sales of monographs and reference works used by hospitals such as Mayo Clinic and governmental research agencies like the National Institutes of Health.

Journals and Publishing Practices

Elsevier publishes thousands of journals across fields represented by learned societies including the Society for Neuroscience, the American Medical Association, and the Royal Society of Chemistry. Flagship titles and specialized periodicals appear alongside conference proceedings similar to publications from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Editorial processes rely on peer reviewers drawn from universities such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology and University of Cambridge and professional organizations like the American Physical Society. Elsevier employs production workflows for copyediting and typesetting comparable to industry standards used by Springer Nature and Wiley-Blackwell. The company also aggregates metadata for indexing in services such as CrossRef and integrates with research identifiers like ORCID and funding registries including the Wellcome Trust and the European Research Council.

Controversies and Criticisms

Elsevier has been criticized by academics, libraries, and open science advocates including networks like Sci-Hub supporters and coalitions such as the Cost of Knowledge boycott. Disputes have involved subscription pricing models contested by institutions including the University of California and national consortia in countries like Germany (Projekt DEAL) and Sweden over contracts with publishers such as Wiley and Cambridge University Press. Critics have challenged bundling practices and profit margins compared with nonprofit scholarly societies such as the American Chemical Society and questioned transparency in metrics alongside services from Clarivate Analytics. High-profile conflicts with activist groups and repository operators echo tensions seen in court cases involving Google Books and debates around data access with organizations like DataCite.

Open Access and Licensing Policies

Elsevier participates in a mix of subscription and open access (OA) models, offering hybrid OA options and fully gold OA journals alongside transformative agreements with funders and institutions such as the Wellcome Trust, Horizon Europe program, and national research councils. Article processing charges (APCs) and licensing terms are negotiated with consortia like Jisc and initiatives such as Plan S have pressured publishers to alter policies. Elsevier partners with preprint servers and repositories comparable to bioRxiv and integrates licensing metadata compatible with standards from Creative Commons. Debates continue over green OA self-archiving policies and embargo periods versus mandates from funders such as the National Institutes of Health and the European Commission.

Legal Actions and Policy Influence

Elsevier has engaged in litigation and policy advocacy on issues including copyright enforcement and database rights, engaging with actors such as national courts, supranational institutions like the European Court of Justice, and legislative processes referenced in laws such as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and the European Union Copyright Directive. The company has contested unauthorized distribution of paywalled content in cases that raised issues similar to litigation involving Sci-Hub and has lobbied on intellectual property and research infrastructure matters alongside other publishers represented in trade associations comparable to International Publishers Association. Elsevier’s influence has extended to participation in standards discussions and partnerships with governmental agencies and multinational organizations including the World Health Organization.

Category:Academic publishing companies