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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-ZA link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#333333;background:white'>The consolidation of the scientific publishing industry has been the topic of much debate within and outside the scientific community, especially in relation to major publishers’ high profit margins. However, the share of scientific output published in the journals of these major publishers, as well as its evolution over time and across various disciplines, has not yet been analyzed. This paper provides such analysis, based on 45 million documents indexed in the Web of Science over the period 1973-2013. It shows that in both natural and medical sciences (NMS) and social sciences and humanities (SSH), Reed-Elsevier, Wiley-Blackwell, Springer, and Taylor & Francis increased their share of the published output, especially since the advent of the digital era (mid-1990s). Combined, the top five most prolific publishers account for more than 50% of all papers published in 2013.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#333333;background:white'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif"'><a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0127502">http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0127502</a> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA'>Ina Smith<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA'>SciELO Planning Manager<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA'>Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA'>Switchboard: +27 12 349 6600 <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA'>Tel: +27 12 349 6641 <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA'>Fax: +27 (0) 86 576 9512<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA'>Email: <a href="mailto:ina@assaf.org.za"><span style='color:#0563C1'>ina@assaf.org.za</span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA'><img border=0 width=560 height=139 id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.jpg@01D0A817.6CABB190" alt="Logo+slogan"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA'>1st Floor Block A, The Woods, 41 De Havilland Crescent, Persequor Park <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA'>Meiring Naudé Road, Lynnwood 0020, Pretoria, South Africa. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA'>PO Box 72135, Lynnwood Ridge 0040, Pretoria, South Africa. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA'>Website: <a href="http://www.assaf.org.za/"><span style='color:blue'>www.assaf.org.za</span></a><i> </i></span><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic","sans-serif";mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>