How Much Do Major Academic Publishers Earn From Research Publishing?

Thousands of research papers are produced every day at universities and research laboratories around the world. Many are published in internationally renowned academic journals. Scientists and researchers write the papers, while universities, governments and other organisations often finance the research. Yet universities must pay publishers to access many of these papers, and authors or their funding institutions may also have to pay publication fees to make their work freely available. This system has created a multibillion-dollar global industry.

Major publishers such as Springer Nature, Elsevier, Wiley and Taylor & Francis generate billions of dollars in annual revenue. Their businesses now extend well beyond journal publishing. They earn money through long-term agreements with universities, research analytics, digital services and licences allowing scientific content to be used in artificial intelligence systems. While these developments have created new revenue opportunities, they have also intensified debates over research costs, publishers' profits and public access to scientific knowledge.

From subscriptions to publication fees, how publishers make money

Academic publishers generate revenue from several main sources. The first is subscription income. Universities, libraries and research institutions sign annual contracts to access journals and research databases. Under these agreements, their faculty members, students and researchers can read papers covered by the subscriptions. Such contracts provide a significant and recurring source of income for major publishers.

The second source is publication fees. Under the open-access model, readers do not have to pay to access published research. However, many journals charge authors, their universities or research funders a fee to publish their work. This is known as an article processing charge (APC). Not all open-access journals charge such fees, as some operate with grant funding or institutional support.

A third source is agreements with universities and research institutions. These arrangements may allow institutions to access published research while also enabling their researchers to publish their own work through open-access routes. Other revenue streams include academic book sales, research citation and impact analytics, access to digital databases, and commercial licensing of research content.

These revenue streams vary across publishers. Some rely primarily on journals and subscriptions, while others also generate substantial income from research analytics, educational products and assessment services.

Springer Nature earns more than Tk 215 billion from research publishing

Germany-based publisher Springer Nature generated revenue of €1.9264 billion in 2025, equivalent to approximately Tk 273.5 billion. Its revenue in the previous year was €1.8471 billion. The company reported adjusted operating profit of €543.6 million in 2025, or around Tk 77.19 billion.

Research publishing is the company's largest business segment. It generated €1.5172 billion in revenue in 2025, equivalent to approximately Tk 215.44 billion. The segment's adjusted operating profit was €486.4 million. Its underlying revenue grew by 7.4% compared with the previous year. The number of research articles published across the company's portfolio increased by more than 12% during the year, while publications in fully open-access journals grew by approximately 25%.

Springer Nature earns much of its revenue from institutional subscriptions, article processing charges, book sales and digital research services. In 2025, the company concluded 19 new transformative agreements with national research organisations, government institutions and universities. By the end of the year, it had 85 such agreements covering more than 4,000 institutions. These arrangements provide recurring institutional revenue while expanding opportunities for researchers to publish their work openly.

The publisher also earns money by licensing research content for commercial use. It is expanding services that allow corporate research and development departments to use scientific information.

Elsevier combines academic publishing with research analytics

One of the world's largest academic publishers, Elsevier, reports its financial results through its parent company, RELX. In 2025, RELX generated total revenue of £9.59 billion. Its Scientific, Technical and Medical division, which includes Elsevier, generated £2.714 billion, equivalent to approximately Tk 447.81 billion. The division reported adjusted operating profit of £1.035 billion, representing around 38.2% of its revenue.

Two important parts of Elsevier's business are access to research publications and research analytics. Through ScienceDirect, universities and researchers access digital versions of journals and books. Scopus, meanwhile, provides information on research citations, researchers' publications and the impact of academic work. Universities, research institutions and corporate clients use these services through commercial agreements.

Elsevier's business is therefore not limited to publishing individual research papers and charging fees. It also generates revenue through long-term subscriptions, database access and services that help institutions analyse research output and impact.

Wiley explores new revenue opportunities through subscriptions and AI

US-based publisher Wiley generated total revenue of $1.677 billion in fiscal year 2026. Its Research division contributed $1.13 billion, equivalent to approximately Tk 137.86 billion, while its Learning division generated $547 million. The Research division reported earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of $375 million, or around 33.2% of its revenue. This figure is not net profit.

Wiley's Research division earns revenue from journals and books, institutional subscriptions, open-access publishing and specialised agreements with universities and research organisations. More recently, licensing research content for artificial intelligence services has added another dimension to the company's business.

Wiley reported $49 million in AI-related revenue across the company in fiscal year 2026, a 23% increase from the previous year. Subscription income, specialised agreements, open-access publishing and content licensing contributed to revenue growth in its Research division.

Taylor & Francis earns from journals, books and content licensing

Taylor & Francis, known for its academic journals and research books, generated revenue of £619 million in 2025, equivalent to approximately Tk 102.14 billion. Its parent company, Informa, reported revenue of £593.6 million for the previous year. In 2025, Taylor & Francis recorded adjusted operating profit of £217.9 million, around 35.2% of revenue.

The publisher's main revenue sources include academic journals, research books, institutional agreements and digital content licensing. Through imprints such as Routledge, it also has a substantial presence in the market for books on the humanities and social sciences.

Informa reported that Taylor & Francis's underlying revenue growth was 3.6% in 2025, excluding a one-off specialist content-access agreement. Such agreements generated more than $75 million in revenue in 2024.

Oxford and Cambridge combine research publishing with education and assessment

Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press & Assessment have business models that differ from those of many other academic publishers. Alongside academic journals and books, their operations include education, language learning, examinations and assessment services.

Published reports put Oxford University Press's total business revenue for the 2025-26 financial year at £824 million, with a business surplus of £68 million. Its revenue sources include academic books and journals, digital research platforms, dictionaries, English-language teaching and digital educational materials. Its total revenue should therefore not be treated as income from research publishing alone.

Cambridge University Press & Assessment generated revenue of £1.025 billion in the 2024-25 financial year. In addition to research papers and academic books, Cambridge English and its examination and assessment services are important sources of income.

Both organisations are associated with universities, making their financial structures different from those of publishers owned by commercial investors. Their surpluses can support broader educational and research activities.

MDPI and other publishers rely heavily on publication fees

To understand the business model of open-access-focused publishers, it is important to look at organisations such as MDPI, Frontiers and PLOS. For these publishers, article processing charges are a significant source of revenue. In 2023, MDPI generated $681.6 million from article processing charges alone.

Research costs and public access remain contentious

The debate over academic publishing centres on the cost of research and access to its findings. Research is often funded through government grants or university budgets. Researchers write manuscripts, while academic experts frequently conduct peer reviews without payment. Universities may then have to pay subscription fees to access published papers. Publishing the same work openly may also require a separate fee.

Publishers argue that investment is necessary to support editorial work, quality control, publishing platforms, digital preservation and the reliability of research. The debate, therefore, is not only about publishers' profits. It also concerns the transparency of publication costs, the affordability of institutional agreements and whether researchers are excluded from publishing because they cannot afford the fees.

Professor Abu Reza Md Toufiqul Islam of Begum Rokeya University, ranked sixth in Bangladesh among the world's top 2% of scientists, told The Daily Campus, "There are thousands of journals and publishers around the world. Not all of them can survive in the market. Springer, Wiley, Elsevier and Taylor & Francis have survived because they have maintained continuity and never compromised on quality. As a result, they are also earning crores of taka. However, if they change their business models, it would benefit both researchers and readers."

He added, "Our neighbouring country India, and even Pakistan, have been able to capture this academic market. But we have not. The quality of journals in our country is extremely poor. They lack continuity, quality and impact factors. Universities have been running journals primarily to facilitate promotions. One friend reviews another friend's research paper. As a result, quality is no longer being maintained."