Taylor & Francis

Taylor & Francis
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Name	Taylor & Francis
Founded	1798
Headquarters	London
Country	United Kingdom
Key people	Sir Anthony Habgood, Paul Webley, Judith Curran
Publications	academic journals, books, reference works
Imprints	Routledge, CRC Press

Taylor & Francis is a multinational publishing company specializing in academic journals, books, and reference works with roots in 18th‑century London. It operates global editorial and production networks across Europe, North America, and Asia, serving authors and readers in science, technology, medicine, humanities, and social sciences. The company has been involved in scholarly communication alongside institutions such as University of Oxford, Harvard University, University College London, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Stanford University.

History

Founded in 1798 in London by William Taylor, the firm expanded through partnerships with figures connected to the publishing trades of the Georgian and Victorian eras, intersecting with households and institutions like British Museum, Cambridge University Press, University of Cambridge, Royal Society, and courtyards of Westminster. Nineteenth‑century growth linked the company to authors and editors associated with Charles Darwin, Thomas Babington Macaulay, John Stuart Mill, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and networks around British Library. Twentieth‑century consolidation saw mergers and acquisitions involving firms comparable to Routledge, CRC Press, Spon Press, and imprints tied to scholarly producers near Oxford University Press and Palgrave Macmillan. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, corporate moves mirrored transactions among entities such as Informa, Pearson PLC, Reed Elsevier and private equity actors active in publishing markets across New York City, Boston, Beijing, and Singapore.

Publishing Operations and Imprints

The company manages multiple imprints and brands, notably Routledge, CRC Press, and specialist lists engaging communities around IEEE authors, contributors from National Institutes of Health, and editorial boards drawn from universities including University of California, Berkeley, Yale University, Columbia University, University of Toronto, and University of Melbourne. Operations include peer review workflows linked to editorial offices in Oxford, New York City, Singapore, Mumbai, and Shanghai, and partnerships with indexing services such as Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, and CrossRef. The imprint portfolio spans monographs, textbooks, handbooks, and reference series used by scholars at institutions like Princeton University, Johns Hopkins University, University of Chicago, Imperial College London, and ETH Zurich.

Academic Journals and Books

Taylor & Francis publishes thousands of peer‑reviewed journals and tens of thousands of books, engaging editorial boards populated by researchers affiliated with University of Pennsylvania, University of Michigan, University of Edinburgh, McGill University, Peking University, and National University of Singapore. Subject coverage ranges from outlets in partnership with societies such as American Chemical Society‑adjacent authors, contributors linked to Royal Society of Chemistry, and associations like American Psychological Association and Modern Language Association. Key series and handbooks compete with those of Cambridge University Press and Oxford University Press in markets for reference works used by scholars at London School of Economics, King's College London, Duke University, Cornell University, and Northwestern University.

Open Access and Policies

The publisher participates in open access initiatives and transformative agreements negotiated with consortia representing Humboldt University of Berlin, University of California, Max Planck Society, CSIC (Spain), and national libraries such as Bibliothèque nationale de France. It offers gold open access options, hybrid models, and institutional agreements akin to deals involving Elsevier and Springer Nature, while systems interface with repositories like arXiv, PubMed Central, and national research portals associated with Research Councils UK and National Science Foundation. Article processing charges and licensing terms reflect negotiations with funders including Wellcome Trust, European Research Council, Gates Foundation, and National Institutes of Health.

Controversies and Criticism

The company has faced critiques over pricing, subscription models, and access policies in debates paralleling disputes involving Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley-Blackwell, and university consortia such as Projekt DEAL and Jisc. Criticism has arisen from scholars at University of California, University of Konstanz, and advocacy groups like SPARC and Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association regarding embargoes, copyright transfer practices, and article processing charges compared with community‑led publishing initiatives like Public Library of Science. High‑profile incidents involving editorial practices, peer review integrity, and retractions drew attention from media outlets and watchdogs connected to Retraction Watch and prompted dialogue with research funders such as UK Research and Innovation.

Corporate Structure and Ownership

Operating as a division within larger corporate frameworks, the publisher's ownership and governance have been linked historically to trade deals and acquisitions involving companies comparable to Informa plc, investment consortia, and board members with ties to London Stock Exchange listings and corporate governance bodies that include figures associated with Financial Times reporting. Its executive leadership and boards have engaged with stakeholders from academic institutions such as University of Oxford, policy forums like OECD, and professional associations including Association of American Publishers.

Category:Academic publishing companies Category:Publishing companies of the United Kingdom