The Company of Biologists

What The Company of Biologists does

The Company of Biologists is a UK not-for-profit scientific publishing organisation founded on 15 October 1925 by George Parker Bidder III and headquartered in Histon, Cambridge. It operates as a Company Limited by Guarantee (No. 514735) and a UK Registered Charity (No. 277992) under the founding principle that "we exist to profit science, not shareholders" and that no director may receive remuneration. Its core activity is publishing five specialist peer-reviewed journals — Development, Journal of Cell Science, Journal of Experimental Biology, Disease Models & Mechanisms, and Biology Open — two of which are fully Open Access and three of which operate as Plan S Transformative Journals, making CoB the first publisher in the world to achieve that designation across all hybrid titles.

Revenue is generated through three principal streams: annual library and library-consortium subscriptions, Article Processing Charges (APCs) for Open Access publication, and cost-neutral Read & Publish agreements that bundle subscription access with unlimited APC-free Open Access publishing for corresponding authors at participating institutions. Distribution is global, with named Read & Publish partners including the University of Cambridge, University of Akron, Oklahoma State University and the EIFL consortium covering 30 developing and transition economy countries (valid until 31 December 2026). HINARI, AGORA and OARE inclusion provides further reach to low-income country researchers, supported by APC waivers under World Bank classification.

Beyond journals, CoB operates three community platforms (the Node for developmental biology, preLights for preprints, FocalPlane for microscopy), an extensive portfolio of ~10 charitable grant programmes (Scientific Meeting Grants funding 110-112 events per round in 25-31 countries, Travelling Fellowships, Travel Grants, Training Grants, Sustainable Conferencing Grants, Pathway to Independence), a Publishing Partnerships joint-venture service for other societies, and a sustainability programme that includes the Forest of Biologists biodiversity initiative and an Event Carbon Calculator. A Board of 14+ distinguished practising scientists (including FRS, FMedSci and CBE holders) provides unpaid governance, and the organisation is run by a small Cambridge-based staff team of around 20.

Name

The Company of Biologists

Legal name

The Company of Biologists

Website

https://biologists.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1925

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

The Company of Biologists is a UK not-for-profit scientific publisher that issues five peer-reviewed biology journals and reinvests surplus into the global biological community through grant programmes, community platforms and Read & Publish agreements with academic libraries worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Scholarly Scientific Publishing

NAICS

Periodical Publishers (51312)

SIC

Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro primary industry

Academic & Scholarly Journals Publishing (Peer-Reviewed) (MPAJABAC)

Keywords

• Scholarly journal publishing
• Open access publishing
• Scientific research grants
• Library subscription services
• Biological science publishing

Headquarters

HQ city

Histon

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Library subscriptions: Recurring subscription revenue from libraries and library consortia for access to CoB journal content dating back to 1853. Subscription pricing is reviewed annually to avoid 'double dipping' when APCs are also paid.
2. Article Processing Charges (APCs): One-time APC paid by authors to publish individual articles Open Access under a CC BY licence in hybrid or fully Open Access journals (Disease Models & Mechanisms and Biology Open are fully OA). Waivers are available for authors in low- and lower-middle income countries and via EIFL agreement.
3. Read & Publish agreements: Cost-neutral bundled agreements with libraries/consortia combining subscription access and unlimited APC-free Open Access publishing for authors at participating institutions. Agreements exist with EIFL covering 30 developing and transition economy countries until 31 December 2026.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels12 records

Core offering

The Company of Biologists publishes five peer-reviewed specialist biology journals (Development, Journal of Cell Science, Journal of Experimental Biology, Disease Models & Mechanisms, and Biology Open) and operates three community websites (the Node, preLights, FocalPlane). It sells library subscriptions and Read & Publish Open Access agreements, collects author-paid Article Processing Charges, and reinvests surplus into a portfolio of charitable grants, travelling fellowships, training grants, sustainable conferencing grants, and scientific meetings that support biologists and biological societies.

Product overview

The Company of Biologists operates as a not-for-profit publishing platform organised around five peer-reviewed specialist journals (Development, Journal of Cell Science, Journal of Experimental Biology, Disease Models & Mechanisms and Biology Open), supported by three community websites (the Node, preLights and FocalPlane), a suite of charitable grants (Scientific Meeting, Small Meeting, Travelling Fellowships, DMM Conference Travel, BiO Global South Conference Travel, JCS-FocalPlane Training, JEB Kickstart, ECR Visiting Fellowships, Fund for Innovations in Sustainable Conferencing, Development Pathway to Independence), a Library Hub offering Read & Publish agreements, an annual Workshops and Meetings programme, and a Sustainability Hub including The Forest of Biologists biodiversity initiative and an Event Carbon Calculator. The journals are the core product; community sites, grants, library agreements and sustainability programmes are complementary modules layered on the same publishing platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Development: Peer-reviewed journal published by The Company of Biologists covering developmental biology (animal and plant development, stem cells, regeneration); one of the three transformative/hybrid journals.
• Journal of Cell Science
• Journal of Experimental Biology
• Disease Models & Mechanisms
• Biology Open
• the Node
• preLights
• FocalPlane

Products and services

• Development (journal) Peer-reviewed scientific journal covering animal and plant developmental biology, stem cells and regeneration. It is a Plan S Transformative Journal offering hybrid subscription and Open Access publication, and supports the Travelling Fellowships and Development's Pathway to Independence Programme grants.
• Journal of Cell Science Peer-reviewed scientific journal covering cell biology. It is a Plan S Transformative Journal offering hybrid subscription and Open Access publication, and co-sponsors JCS-FocalPlane Training Grants for microscopy training.
• Journal of Experimental Biology
• Disease Models & Mechanisms
• Biology Open
• the Node Community website for developmental and stem cell biologists that hosts news, jobs, event listings, the Node Network researcher database, and Travelling Fellowship recipient stories from Development, JCS, JEB and DMM.
• preLights Community site where early-career researchers highlight and discuss preprints of interest to the biological community.
• FocalPlane Community site for researchers with microscopy expertise, hosting news, the FocalPlane Network database of microscopists, and content linked to the JCS-FocalPlane Training Grants.
• Read & Publish agreements Cost-neutral agreements offered to libraries and library consortia that provide unlimited access to journal content and allow corresponding authors APC-free Open Access publication of research articles. Includes the EIFL agreement covering 30 developing/transition economy countries until 31 December 2026.
• Scientific Meeting Grants Grants of up to £3,000 to help finance meetings, workshops and conferences in the fields covered by the journals, with applicants encouraged to include virtual elements.
• Small Meeting Grants Rolling grants of up to £400 for local one-day small meetings (maximum budget £1,000) within the fields of the journals.
• Travelling Fellowships Grants of up to £3,000 offered by Development, Journal of Cell Science and Journal of Experimental Biology to graduate students and post-doctoral researchers to make collaborative visits to other laboratories.
• DMM Conference Travel Grants Grants of up to £300 (domestic) or £500 (international) from Disease Models & Mechanisms to early-career researchers to attend scientific meetings, conferences, workshops and training courses.
• BiO Global South Conference Travel Grants Grants of up to £3,000 from Biology Open to early-career researchers based in the Global South to attend international scientific meetings.
• JCS-FocalPlane Training Grants Grants of up to £1,000 co-funded by Journal of Cell Science and FocalPlane for early-career researchers to attend microscopy and bioimage analysis training courses.
• JEB Research Partnership Kickstart Travel Grants Grants of up to £3,000 from the Journal of Experimental Biology to junior faculty staff to travel to another institution to initiate a new research collaboration and prepare a major collaborative grant application.
• JEB ECR Visiting Fellowships Grants of up to £3,000 from the Journal of Experimental Biology to junior faculty staff to host an early-career researcher in their lab for a defined 1-3 month research project.
• Fund for Innovations in Sustainable Conferencing Grants of up to £2,500 (in four categories) that fund innovative measures to reduce the carbon footprint and improve accessibility of scientific events.
• Development's Pathway to Independence Programme Mentoring, training and networking programme to support researchers in developmental biology, stem cells or regeneration as they transition from postdoc to principal investigator.
• The Forest of Biologists Biodiversity initiative that plants trees for published papers and protects ancient woodland in recognition of peer reviewers, including an interactive virtual forest at forest.biologists.com/landscape.
• Event Carbon Calculator Online calculator that allows organisers of scientific events to estimate and report the carbon footprint of their meetings.
• Library Hub Central portal providing librarians with Read & Publish agreement information, subscription details, journal archive access, price transparency, news, events and resources.
• Publishing Partnerships programme Joint-venture publishing service offering established quality journals investment in development, peer review, ethics, copy editing, production, journal site design, social media and community-building activities.
• Workshops and Meetings programme Events programme of small subject-specific Workshops and Journal Meetings that provide networking and discussion opportunities for the biological community.

Quantifiable outcome

• Up to 110-112 Scientific Meeting Grants awarded per funding round, spanning 25-31 countries
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

21 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Electronic Information for Libraries (EIFL)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 31 December 2026Read & Publish agreement with EIFL enables researchers in 30 developing and transition economy countries (from Albania to Zimbabwe) to publish fee-free Open Access in CoB's five journals, with full APC waivers for fully OA titles (DMM, Biology Open). Agreement runs until 31 December 2026.
• BenchScicoreTechnology or Integration · 1 September 2024BenchSci and The Company of Biologists announced a partnership to integrate CoB scientific journals and publications into BenchSci's AI-powered ASCEND platform. The collaboration aims to improve access to biomedical data, accelerate drug discovery, and support biological research. Data integration was expected to be available in early 2025.
• British Society for Developmental Biology (BSDB)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorFunded society that uses part of CoB funding to provide travel grants to early-career scientists wishing to attend conferences; CoB logo appears alongside BSDB on the CoB website.
• British Society for Cell Biology (BSCB)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorFunded society that uses part of CoB funding to provide travel grants to early-career scientists wishing to attend conferences; CoB logo appears alongside BSCB on the CoB website.
• Society for Experimental Biology (SEB)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorFunded society that uses part of CoB funding to provide travel grants to early-career scientists wishing to attend conferences; co-branding with SEB displayed on the CoB website.
• Joint Commitment for action on inclusion and diversity in publishingminorOthersCoB is a founding signatory of this cross-publisher joint commitment to develop more inclusive practices and policies in scholarly publishing.
• Coalition for Diversity & Inclusion in Scholarly Communications (C4DISC)minorOthersCoB has adopted the C4DISC Joint Statement of Principles and aligns with C4DISC's values and vision to foster a socially just and diverse community within scientific publishing.
• Publishing Inclusion Pledge (The Publishers Association)minorOthersCoB is a signatory of the Publishing Inclusion Pledge, working to provide fair opportunities at every level and a working environment where everyone is respected, heard and supported.
• HINARI (Research4Life / WHO EMRO)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoB journal content is included in HINARI, providing free or low-cost access for researchers in low-income countries.
• AGORA (FAO)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoB journals are included in FAO's AGORA programme, providing access to research for researchers in developing countries.
• OARE (UNEP)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoB journals are included in UNEP's OARE programme, providing access to environmental research for researchers in developing countries.
• Plan S / cOAlition ScoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoB's three hybrid journals (Development, Journal of Cell Science, Journal of Experimental Biology) are Plan S Transformative Journals; CoB was the first publisher in the world to achieve this status.
• Other not-for-profit biology publishers and societies (publishing partnership programme)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoB offers joint-venture publishing partnerships to societies and not-for-profit organisations seeking to develop and protect their journals, investing in quality production, copy-editing, peer review and community-building activities.
• Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)minorOthersCoB is a member of COPE, supporting ethical publishing standards.
• OASPA (Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association)minorOthersCoB is a member of OASPA, the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association.
• LOCKSS / CLOCKSS digital preservation networkscoreTechnology or IntegrationCoB participates in LOCKSS and CLOCKSS distributed digital preservation networks to ensure long-term preservation of journal content.
• CrossrefcoreTechnology or IntegrationCrossref member; CoB uses Crossref infrastructure for DOI registration and scholarly metadata.
• ORCIDcoreTechnology or IntegrationCoB is an ORCID member organisation, supporting adoption of researcher identifiers across its journals.
• ALPSP (Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers)minorOthersCoB is a member and committee participant of ALPSP, the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers.
• United2ActminorOthersCoB is a participant in the United2Act initiative against paper mills, coordinated cross-publisher effort to combat research integrity threats.
• FocalPlanecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFocalPlane (CoB's community website for microscopy researchers) co-runs the JCS-FocalPlane Training Grants with Journal of Cell Science, awarding up to £1,000 to early-career researchers attending microscopy training courses.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Wiley: Wiley is a major commercial publisher with significant life sciences journal portfolios. It competes with CoB for library subscriptions, Read & Publish agreements, and society publishing partnerships across biology and biomedical sciences.
• Oxford University Press: Oxford University Press publishes journals across biology and biomedical sciences and offers institutional Read & Publish agreements. As a UK-based university press with similar non-commercial positioning, it is a comparable reference point for academic publishing scale and library engagement.
• Cambridge University Press: Cambridge University Press is a UK-based academic publisher with extensive journal offerings in biology. As a Cambridge-based non-commercial publisher with global library reach, it shares geographic and operational parallels with CoB's Histon, Cambridge headquarters.
• Elsevier (RELX): Elsevier is one of the largest commercial academic publishers, with Cell, Current Biology and hundreds of biology journals. It competes with CoB for institutional library and Read & Publish agreements and is the dominant commercial force in the Open Access transition.
• Springer Nature: Springer Nature is the world's largest academic publisher, with Nature-branded and Springer journals across biology. It competes broadly with CoB for library consortia deals and Transformative Journal status, and operates the Nature portfolio that includes direct competitors to Development and Journal of Cell Science.

Direct peers

• Annual Reviews: Annual Reviews is a not-for-profit publisher of scientific review journals across the life and physical sciences. It shares CoB's mission-driven model and competes for institutional library budgets and Read & Publish-style agreements in biology.
• Public Library of Science (PLOS): PLOS is a large not-for-profit Open Access publisher covering biology and medicine with journals like PLOS Biology and PLOS ONE. It competes for the same author pool and library Read & Publish budgets and shares CoB's commitment to community-driven OA publishing.
• Rockefeller University Press: Rockefeller University Press publishes three peer-reviewed journals in cell biology (Journal of Cell Biology, Journal of Experimental Medicine, Journal of General Physiology). As a non-profit society-affiliated publisher, it directly competes with CoB's Journal of Cell Science and Journal of Experimental Biology for cell biology submissions.
• eLife Sciences Publications: eLife is a not-for-profit publisher of life sciences and biomedical research, operating a consultative peer review model. It directly competes with CoB journals like Disease Models & Mechanisms and Biology Open for biological research submissions and shares the mission-driven, OA-first ethos.
• Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press publishes Genes & Development, RNA and other leading biology journals. As a non-profit research-institution-affiliated publisher with similar journal heritage, it is a direct competitor for molecular and developmental biology authors and library subscriptions.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Co_Biologists
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/CompanyofBiologists
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-company-of-biologists
• Facebookfacebook.com/developmentjournal

Compliance14 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles15 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Company of Biologists