Social Science, Humanities Books Grow After Decade of Decline

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Dec 18, 2018, 09:13 ET

STAMFORD, Conn., Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- After shrinking for most of the past decade, social science and humanities (SSH) books sales reversed course and grew in 2017 and 2018—this according to Global Social Science and Humanities Publishing 2018-2022, the latest report from Simba Information.

Books are the largest social science publishing activity, but they are also the sector most dependent on non-U.S. dollar sales and are somewhat behind STM in the transition from print to digital. SSH books sales shrank 4.6% in 2016, but turned positive in 2017, up 1.3%. Simba projects 1.5% growth in SSH books for 2018.

In 2017, the university press sector in the U.S. (a good proxy for SSH publishing) grew 5.3%, with hardbacks, paperbacks and e-books all up. Many SSH market leaders reported positive news as well, using terms like "stabilized" or "recovered" to describe their book results.

Many factors have contributed to this change. For example, publishers have been forced to become more selective in launching titles, but they have also taken advantage of new business models and delivery systems, and are no longer making deep cuts in output as they had for many years.

Furthermore, monographs are making a comeback. SSH readers need long-form answers that are best read in print. Libraries are using book budgets to build digital collections rather than buy individual titles, but they are also buying from Amazon, which doesn't share data about its end customers. Springer Nature and Informa have taken advantage of e-collections by rapidly stepping up book deals, reasoning that current economics emphasize quantity. As a result, titles that would never have been published as standalone titles in the past decade or two are now being published as part of collections.

Global Social Science and Humanities Publishing 2018-2022 provides an overview and financial outlook for the global SSH publishing market based on specific research and analysis of the leading competitors' performance. This research was conducted in conjunction with a larger study of the overall market for professional publishing.

The market is divided into five content delivery channels: books, journals, online content, abstracting and indexing and other activities, a category that includes audio, video and CD-ROM information.

Simba also examines leading competitors including: Cengage, EBSCO, Elsevier, Informa, John Wiley & Sons, Oxford University Press, ProQuest, SAGE Publishing and Springer Nature.

Simba Information is widely recognized as the leading authority for market intelligence in the media and publishing industry. Simba's extensive information network delivers top quality, independent perspective on the people, events and alliances shaping the media and information industry. Simba publishes newsletters and research reports that provide key decision-makers at more than 15,000 client companies around the globe with timely news, analysis, exclusive statistics and proprietary industry forecasts. For more information, please visit www.simbainformation.com or call 888-29-SIMBA.

About Simba Information
Simba Information is widely recognized as the leading authority for market intelligence in the media and publishing industry. Simba's extensive information network delivers top quality, independent perspective on the people, events and alliances shaping the media and information industry. Simba publishes newsletters and research reports that provide key decision-makers at more than 15,000 client companies around the globe with timely news, analysis, exclusive statistics and proprietary industry forecasts. For more information, please visit http://www.simbainformation.com.

Contact:
Dan Strempel
203-325-8193
[email protected]

SOURCE Simba Information