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热度 1 |||
这关系更复杂了，我得好好研究
在《关注：张生家科学伦理之火正在《自然》内燃》一文提到张生家案的科学伦理之火正在《自然》内燃，因为如何处理《自然》过去报道张生家案的错误已经不是《自然》的几个编辑所能决定的事，《自然》的“母亲”，也就是它的母公司Macmillan（麦克米兰）的法律顾问也被牵扯进来。
但事情好像还不是那么简单。由于《自然》母亲Macmillan（麦克米兰）“改嫁”Springer（斯普林哥），并把《自然》集团“卖”给“新夫”，所以《自然》已“改姓”，全名应为“Springer Nature”（斯普林哥的自然）。
有趣的是，中国的《科学通讯》早已是Springer（斯普林哥）的“孩子”。
因此，发表谢灿论文的《自然》的子刊 ---《自然-材料》与发表张生家论文的《科学通报》“打架”，谁胜谁负还很难说。到底是张生家的论文会被北大、清华要求的那样被撤稿，还是谢灿（在《自然-材料》后发表）论文必须添加对张生家（在《科学通报》先发表）论文的引用，让我们拭目以待。
而《自然》如何从它报道张生家案的错误中走出，就不是只由它自己或它的“母亲”Macmillan（麦克米兰）说了算，“家里”的事最后还是得由“家长Springer（斯普林哥）”拍板“。
哈哈！《自然》有了新老板，如何玩火不自焚？
附：
Nature publisher to merge with Springer
The publisher of Nature is to merge with the world’s second largest science publisher, Springer
The merger of Macmillan Science and Education and Springer was announced on 15 January.
The deal, negotiated by Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, which owns Macmillan, and BC Partners, the private equity group that owns Springer, will create a publishing group with 13,000 employees and an annual turnover of around €1.5 billion (£1.2 billion).
The merger will include Macmillan-owned Nature Publishing Group, the academic book publisher Palgrave Macmillan and textbook division Macmillan Education. However, it will exclude Macmillan Education’s US higher education business and certain other Holtzbrinck companies, including science technology company Digital Science.
Derk Haank, chief executive of Springer – which had sales totalling nearly €1 billion in 2013 – said the merged company would “offer breadth, volume and reach”.
“Springer, in its current form, owes a significant part of its success to the investments made possible under private equity over the past ten years. With the arrival of Holtzbrinck as an anchor investor, a new phase of our long-term development will begin. Together, we will be able to offer authors and contributors more publishing opportunities and institutional libraries and individual buyers will have more choice. The expected economies of scale will allow for additional investments in new product development.”
Stefan von Holtzbrinck, chief executive of Holtzbrinck – which will retain a 53 per cent stake in the merged company – said: “The combination is a big and exciting step into the future and a clear opportunity for all – for our customers, for our great teams in all parts of the world, for the development of the publishing houses involved and also for the family-owned Holtzbrinck Publishing Group.”
Ewald Walgenbach, managing partner of BC Partners, said: “This merger is a strategic milestone in the more than 150-year history of both businesses and shows how family businesses and private equity can work together and support businesses in positioning themselves for future growth. The activities of both businesses are complementary and offer a perfect fit across products, geographies and most importantly contributors and clients.”
SPRINGER NATURE created following merger completion
New company combines Springer Science+Business Media and majority of Macmillan Science and Education
Berlin and London, 6 May 2015
Key competition authorities including
the European Union and the US Department of Justice have cleared the merger of
Springer Science+Business Media and the majority of Macmillan Science and
Education. The new company will be called Springer Nature.
The agreement between Holtzbrinck Publishing Group (owner of Macmillan Science and Education) and BC Partners (advisors of funds which own Springer) was announced on 15 January 2015.
Derk Haank, CEO of Springer Nature, said:
“Today marks our inaugural day together as a new company. We are bringing the Springer and Nature brands to the fore in our new name to emphasize the rich science publishing heritage that we share. Our newly expanded company is home to a wide range of brands and successful businesses with a global footprint. This includes our respected global language learning, schools and higher education group, and our professional group which supports professional learning in fields such as medicine, engineering and transport.
“Taking a unified one-company approach will enable us to have a global view. This will put us in a strong position to benefit from the combined skills and talents of our organization and to better serve researchers, students, teachers and professionals by helping them to discover more. I am very excited about the road ahead for Springer Nature.”
Notes for Editors
Springer Nature is a major new force in scientific, scholarly, professional and
educational publishing. By using its combined expertise, scale and the reach of
our brands, the company aims to grow and innovate in order to better serve
academic researchers, students, teachers, institutions, professionals and the
wider public, by helping them discover more. Springer Nature was created
through the combination of Nature Publishing Group, Palgrave Macmillan,
Macmillan Education and Springer Science+Business Media in May 2015. This
strategic merger brought together these dynamic publishing houses with more
than 150 years of history behind them, as well as complementary geographic
footprints and brand portfolios, a track record of creativity and innovation,
and a shared vision to advance knowledge and learning around the world. The
company numbers almost 13,000 staff in over 50 countries and has a turnover of
EURO 1.5 billion.
Nature owner merges with publishing giant
Macmillan Science and Education looks set to gain from Springer's scale.
15 January 2015
Article tools
Consolidation is afoot in scientific publishing. Macmillan Science and Education, the London-based publisher of Nature and Scientific American, will merge with Berlin-based Springer Science+Business Media, one of the world’s largest science publishers, their parent companies announced today.
The joint venture, which combines the publishing portfolio of Macmillan Science and Education with Springer, would create a firm with some 13,000 employees and a turnover of around €1.5 billion, the companies said.
The deal was agreed by Holtzbrinck Publishing Group (the private firm that owns Macmillan, including Nature) and the private equity firm BC Partners, which in 2013 bought out Springer in a deal worth around €3.1 billion. Holtzbrinck will own 53% of the combined venture, and anticipates that the deal will be approved by competition authorities in the first half of 2015.
“The deal makes a lot of sense for both sides,” says Claudio Aspesi, a media analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. in London. “From BC Partners’ perspective, there were a lot of questions about what they could do with Springer when they bought it, since much cost-cutting had already been done. Now we know how you can add value to that deal — add the most prestigious journals in the world. For Holtzbrinck, the idea is presumably that they get additional scale for Macmillan, which will give additional funds for any new plans.”
The scientific publishing market is dominated by the so-called ‘big four’ companies: Springer (which reports hosting 2,987 journals), Elsevier (3,057), Wiley (2,339) and Taylor & Francis (2,105). Together, they comprise around 30% of the world’s total scholarly peer-reviewed journals, which number 34,585 (28,134 English language), according to Ulrichsweb, an online directory of scholarly journals. There follows an enormous number of smaller publishers: Macmillan publishes only 160 journals, but many of them bear the well-known Nature brand. “Combined, these two companies, both deeply rooted in a strong publishing tradition, offer breadth, volume and reach,” said Derk Haank, CEO of Springer, which is also the world’s largest publisher of open-access journals.
Exactly where the merger leaves the combined company in the science journal publishing market depends on which financial figures one chooses to quote. Elsevier reported £2.1 billion revenues in 2013 (€2.7 billion), while its parent company, Reed Elsevier, made £6.6 billion, but only £1.1 billion of that is from science journals, Aspesi estimates. Two other science publishers, Pearson (€5.2 billion) and Wolters Kluwer (€3.6 billion) are also larger companies, but have far smaller footprints in journals. Pearson has no journal revenues and focuses on news media, education and books, whereas Wolters Kluwer has only a small medical journals business. The new combined firm would also have a big presence in textbooks, as Springer already publishes more than 8,000 books each year.
Related stories
· Investigating journals: The dark side of publishing
· Open access: The true cost of science publishing
· The future of publishing: A new page
No one would comment on the financial structure of the merger. A person with knowledge of the deal said that it was likely that BC Partners would seek to cash out its 47% share via an initial public offering in 2–4 years, and hoped that the merger would lead to stronger growth for the combined company.
But librarians who negotiate with science publishers expressed concern at the deal. "Are mergers good for users? The philosophy of the commercial market is that competition works to bring prices down. On that basis, the concentration of such large publishing volumes in one pair of hands is not good news for users," says Paul Ayris, director of library services at University College, London. "On the other hand, time will tell. Will there be efficiencies by working at such scale, which will reduce costs? We will have to see."
David Prosser, executive director of Research Libraries UK, says that his organization "will work with other library organizations worldwide to ensure that the proposed merger receives suitable scrutiny from the appropriate competition authorities”.
Nature
doi:10.1038/nature.2015.16731
Related stories and links
From nature.com
· Investigating journals: The dark side of publishing
27 March 2013
· Open access: The true cost of science publishing
27 March 2013
· The future of publishing: A new page
27 March 2013
Springer Nature is one of the world’s leading global research, educational and professional publishers, home to an array of respected and trusted brands providing quality content through a range of innovative products and services.
Springer Nature is the world’s largest academic book publisher, publisher of the world’s most influential journals and a pioneer in the field of open research. The company numbers almost 13,000 staff in over 50 countries and has a turnover of approximately EUR 1.5 billion. Springer Nature was formed in 2015 through the merger of Nature Publishing Group, Palgrave Macmillan, Macmillan Education and Springer Science+Business Media.
