Scholarly Publishing: Taylor & Francis Acquires F1000 Research

From a Joint News Release:

Leading specialist academic publisher Taylor & Francis Group, part of Informa plc, has today announced the addition of cutting-edge open research publisher F1000 Research Ltd.

United by their shared goals of amplifying and democratizing research, the addition is an important further step in strengthening Taylor & Francis’ capabilities in open access and open research and extending its range of innovative publishing services.

“The addition of F1000 Research significantly strengthens and extends our capabilities in open research and broader publishing services. It also brings with it a strong culture of innovation and challenging the status quo. This will be invaluable as we evolve to meet the research needs of the 21^st century; offering options to create the impact needed to convert research into solutions quickly,” says Annie Callanan, Chief Executive of Taylor & Francis.

F1000 Research is a trail-blazer in the evolution of research communication. In 2013, it launched the world’s first open research publishing platform, combining the opportunities offered by technology with a passion for identifying new ways to validate and share research.

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Taylor & Francis will provide investment, expertise and ongoing support to enable F1000 Research to continue to develop its range of publishing services, supporting continued innovation in scholarly communication and accelerating impact across the whole research ecosystem.

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The move also opens up new opportunities to connect the humanities and science communities who currently partner with Routledge and Taylor & Francis to F1000 Research’s innovative services.

Whilst continuing to operate independently, F1000 Research will become a key component of Taylor & Francis’s range of open research services and Plan S-compliant platforms, complementing its extensive and growing portfolio of Open Access journals and supporting the company’s ethos of evolving to deliver what researchers across the world expect by championing choice, whatever their field of research or source of funding.

Vitek Tracz, founder of F1000 Research and Chairman of Science Navigation Group said:

“The default way for researchers to share their findings, the Research Journal, is evolving. F1000 Research proposed an efficient, transparent mechanism to respond to the rapidly growing range of needs and opportunities in the way information is shared. The task now needs input and support from a more established partner and I am happy that in the leadership of Taylor & Francis and Informa, we have found a team who understands and is committed to continuing this evolution.”

F1000Prime and F1000Workspace are not included in this transaction and will continue under the ownership of Vitek Tracz.

Read the Complete Announcement

MORE in this Blog Post by Rebecca Lawrence, Managing Director, F1000:

Since F1000 Research’s conception, [F1000 Founder] Vitek [Tracz] has been adamant that he would only ever sell F1000 Research to an organisation that he is convinced is fully committed to not only maintaining our vision and supporting us to scale up but also to ultimately transform the whole industry over time. Both Vitek and I feel confident that we have found such an organisation in Taylor & Francis, its CEO Annie Callanan and her executive leadership team, and I am very excited to continue to lead F1000 Research in this next phase.

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The next phase of our life will continue to see innovation and experimentation, and build on our close collaborations with researchers, funders, research performing organisations, scholarly societies, other publishers, and beyond in providing services to support the ever-evolving needs of research. As we expand further beyond life sciences into the physical sciences and arts & humanities and social sciences (AHSS), we will continue to adapt the model to ensure it best meets the needs of the communities that we serve. The significant history and experience of Taylor & Francis (and Routledge, as one of their key brands) in AHSS will help us to get this right.

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We will continue to expand our focus to better support those who can, and should, play a more important role in influencing research and who ultimately benefit from the impact of new discoveries such as policymakers, commissioners, patients and the broader public. We truly believe that Taylor & Francis’s keenness to work with and learn from F1000 Research will be a major catalyst for change and transformation across the whole scholarly publishing system, and will be pivotal in creating a research system that maximises reach, utility and ultimately impact of new discoveries for all.

Read the Complete Blog Post

Filed under: Companies (Publishers/Vendors), Funding, Management and Leadership, News, Open Access, Publishing