Key takeaways from Frankfurt Book Fair 2025
Maverick Associates share their takeaways from the recent Frankfurt Book Fair and STM Frankfurt conferences in a new post.
A common sentiment expressed by many attendees at the Frankfurt Book Fair, and one we share, is that the event was a tremendous success. This was evident not only in the strong participation numbers but also in the breadth of organizations present across the publishing ecosystem.
While the industry continues to face significant challenges, the overall tone was one of positivity and productivity. Many organizations are clearly focused on developing proactive solutions rather than reacting to risk. The landscape continues to be characterized by rapid change, technological innovation (particularly in AI technologies), and ongoing pressure to adapt and grow. Driven in large part by financial concerns and evolving business models. Below are some of the key trends we observed:
AI impact and opportunities
A lack of a coherent AI strategy continues to limit progress for many organizations.
Efforts to embed AI within submission workflows remain a central area of focus.
AI is helping with research integrity checks, but human intervention is still critical.
Licensing opportunities are accelerating, with deals emerging, though there’s a growing sense that this window of opportunity is time sensitive.
AI-driven capabilities within product portfolios are now seen as critical to maintaining competitive advantage.
Growth and Expansion Pressures
There is strong pressure to launch new journals and expand portfolios rapidly.
Many organizations are rethinking submission pipelines to diversify author demographics and mitigate risk.
Ongoing M&A activity continues to reshape and consolidate the market.
Financial Pressures
Flat revenue and rising costs are forcing organizations to pivot strategies and find operational efficiencies.
Competitive pressure and market sensitivity are restricting price increases.
Open Science and Alternative Models
There is interest in open science and new business models, but these efforts are more exploratory.
The pragmatic approach to open models is evolving in terms of financial feasibility.
Community Engagement
Identifying new customer segments and channels for engagement are key strategies.
The focus is on south Southeast Asia as a potential area for growth.
Emphasis is on the importance of the brand as a signifier of excellence .
Technology & content
There is continued focus on optimising submission workflows, including the management of research integrity signals and improving stakeholder experience.
Implementation of workflow and process enhancements help increase throughput, reduce bottlenecks, and accelerate time to publication.
Challenges are still coming from legacy systems that are costly to upgrade.
Strategic development of platform capabilities needs to ensure systems are scalable, secure, and capable of supporting advanced AI-driven workflows and analytics.
Growing awareness that data silos and a lack of interoperability is inhibiting growth.
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