Evolution of the STM Publishing Platform: An Industry Overview and Roadmap

Authors: Mark Ware, Affiliate Analyst; Laura Ricci, Sr. Market Analyst

The publishing platform, which over the last couple of years has experienced accelerating innovation, is a key strategic issue for the STM publisher. The development of a market for semantic enrichment and web applications, rapid growth in the penetration of mobile devices and their usage, the emergence of open APIs, and advanced data analytics techniques add up to renewed innovation and opportunities. The market environment and new business models are driving uptake of the new technology. The growing importance of the platform as a competitive advantage amid these changes means it’s time to re-evaluate and plan for the future. This report includes:
- An overview of forces driving the development of the STM platform;
- Key themes, technologies, and features comprising the roadmaps for the industry;
- An overview of key platform vendors: Atypon, HighWire, MetaPress, Publishing Technology, Semantico, and Silverchair, plus other platforms, Open Journal System, Annotum, and Allen Press Pinnacle;
- Discussion of supporting technologies and services, the build vs. buy decision, and selecting a platform vendor;
- Essential actions for publishers reviewing their platform strategy.

Open table of contents

Table of Contents

Why This Topic?
- Methodology
Forces Driving the Development of the STM Platform *nUser Behaviour and Needs
- Impact of Evolving Business Models
- Technology Pull
Industry Roadmap 1: Key Themes
- of the Publisher’s Platform
- UX is a Strategic Issue
- Discoverability
- Know Who I Am and What I Want
- Researchers Are Social Animals, Too
Industry Roadmap 2: Technologies and Features 13
- Mobile Use Will Present New Opportunities
- Semantic Enrichment
- Publisher Search Tools
- APIs
- E-Commerce and Monetisation
- Convergence and Integration
- Functional Content
- Analytics
Overview of Key Platform Vendors
- Atypon
- HighWire
- MetaPress
- Publishing Technology
- Semantico
- Silverchair
Other Platforms
- Open Journal System
- Annotum
- Allen Press Pinnacle
Supporting Technologies and Services
- Text-Mining and Semantic Enrichment
- Mobile Developers
- XML Servers – MarkLogic
Build vs. Buy
Selecting Platform Vendors
Essential Actions
Related Research

Table & Figure Titles

Table 1. Researchers’ Information Needs at Different Stages of the Research Cycle
Figure 1. Information Flow Map for Neuroscience
Figure 2. Content Technologies That Matter in STM
Table 2. Publisher Benefits from Deployment of Semantic Content Enrichment
Table 3. Overview of Main STM Publishing Platform Vendors
Table 4. Overview of the Main STM Platforms
Table 5. Key Technologies Used by Major Platforms
Table 6. Services Offered by Platform Vendors