Elsevier Journal and

Article Ecosystem

2022 Summary
Elsevier publishing - 2023 journal and article data transparency
As a global leader in scientific, technical and medical publishing, Elsevier is proud to support authors and research
communities in ensuring quality research can be accessed, trusted, shared, and built upon to accelerate progress that
benefits society.
Our 2,800 scientific, technical and medical journals are integral to the scientific record and to the broader exchange of
knowledge and ideas. To support this scientific endeavour, the editorial review, peer review and other parts of the
publishing process faithfully mirror the rigour and care that goes into research itself.
We openly provide key data so authors and the research communities that we serve can find consistent information about how our
journals are growing content, advancing open access articles, and offering value and high impact
In 2022, we received 2.7 million research papers from authors – more than double the total submissions in 2015. These were
reviewed by our in-house editorial teams in collaboration with 32,000 editors and 1.4 million expert reviewers around the
world, resulting in over 600,000 articles being enhanced, published, indexed, certified and promoted following a peer review. The
global scientific community accessed over 1.8 billion articles across our journal platforms.
• Submissions to Elsevier journals continue growing strongly: +10% CAGR since 2011
• Fast growth of open access article volume: +48% CAGR since 2011. With 150,000 OA articles published in 2022, and with
all our 2,800 journals offering OA options, including 700 Gold OA journals, Elsevier is a global leader in open access
publishing.
• Articles published in Elsevier journals account for 18% of global research output while garnering 28% of citations,
demonstrating our commitment to delivering research quality significantly ahead of the industry average.
• We publish more articles and at higher quality relative to other publishers – yet our average list price per subscription
article remains 2-3 times lower than other publishers. Elsevier’s average list prices per subscription prices have remained
flat over the last ten years, compared to average increases of around 6% per annum by other publishers.
 Journal and Article Ecosystem
How Elsevier supports scholarly communication

Community building
over 2,800 journal brands
Filtering/Editing
• >2.7m article submissions
Solicit &
manage • >600,000 published articles
submissions • 32,000 editors
Archiving • >100,000 editorial board members
>20 million articles Manage • ~1.4 million reviewers
Archive & Peer
promote review

Publish & Edit &

disseminate prepare

Dissemination Production
>1.8 billion articles consumed Technological enrichment

3
 Article Volume Growth: Submissions
Consistent article submissions volume growth
Elsevier Submitted Articles (Units, Millions)

4
 Article Volume Growth: Published Articles
Consistent published articles volume growth
Elsevier Published Articles (‘000)

5
 Published Articles: Open Access

Elsevier Open Access Articles Published (‘000)

6
 Journal and Article Quality
Article and citation share
Elsevier Publisher A Publisher B Publisher C Other

7 Share of articles per publisher (published in 2017-2021) and citation share (citations in 2017-21 in relation to articles published in 2017-21). Source: Scopus data.
 Journal and Article Quality
Share of articles per journal quality tier
Share of articles per journal Field Weighted Citation Impact Tier*

Total market

* Articles published in 2017-2021. Field Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) is calculated on the basis of citations in 2017-21 to articles published in 2017-21 and accounts f or article ty pe, publication y ear and
8 subject f ield. Source: Scopus data.
 Journal and Article Quality
Share of articles per journal quality tier

Articles published 2017-21. Field Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) calculated based on citations in 2017-21 to articles published in 2017-21 and accounts f or article ty pe, publication y ear and subject f ield.
9 Source: Scopus data.
 Leading research platforms with global reach and scale

>100m >50m 1.8bn

Monthly visits Unique monthly Articles
+25% CAGR visitors consumed*
since 2017 per year

>600k >70
Searches Article views per
per day second

Increasing article volume, search and usability, adding sophisticated analytical capabilities

10 * Unique article v iews and downloads, adjusted to remov e double counting

 Journal Article Price
Average list price per subscription article
Indexed Average Subscription Article List Price*

3.4

2.0
1.8

1.0

Elsevier Publisher A Publisher B Publisher C

11 * Indexed weighted av erage of list prices f or 2021 subscription y ear v ersus articles published in 2021 taking Elsev ier as baseline. Source: Publisher websites, Scopus data. Unpay wall database
 Journal Article Price
Average list price per subscription article over time
Growth Rate of Average Subscription Article List Price*

* 5-y ear (2017-2021) and 10-y ear (2012-2021) compound annual growth rates
12 Source: Publisher websites, Scopus data, Unpay wall database
 Article publishing charges
Delivering above-average quality at below-average price
APC charges* by journal type

* 2021 Volume Weighted – Based on quantity of Open Access articles, list price APCs. Bubble size represents number of OA output 2021 that hav e APC data.
13 Sources: Unpay wall, DeltaThink, Elsev ier; January 2021