F1000Research

What F1000Research does

F1000Research is an open access, peer-reviewed scientific publishing platform founded in 2012 and headquartered in London, UK. The platform enables researchers across all disciplines, including natural sciences, medical and health sciences, social sciences, engineering and technology, agricultural and veterinary sciences, and humanities and the arts, to submit manuscripts through a self-service portal and have them published rapidly while undergoing named, transparent post-publication peer review. Articles that pass peer review are indexed in major scholarly databases including PubMed, Scopus, Crossref, DOAJ, and MEDLINE, and the platform supports versioned articles, open data and code deposition, and multiple article types such as posters and slides. The platform also hosts branded institutional and funder gateways (e.g., Japan Institutional Gateway, NC3Rs, ELIXIR, YCharOS, Manipal Academy) and integrates with CrossRef, ORCID, and FAIRSharing for DOI assignment, author identification, and FAIR data compliance.

F1000Research monetizes through Article Processing Charges (APCs) paid by authors at submission, with a product-led, self-serve go-to-market motion in which researchers submit directly through the website and receive editorial support throughout. The company is legally organized as F1000 Research Limited, a private limited company registered in England and Wales (Company Number 8322928), and operates as a subsidiary of the Taylor & Francis Group, itself a division of Informa, a publicly traded publishing and events conglomerate. Strategic partnerships with major research funders, including Wellcome, the Gates Foundation, and the European Commission, channel funded open access mandates into the platform, and the company partners with Research4Life to extend access to researchers in developing countries.

The company is operationally active, with a small headcount of 11-50 employees and no disclosed external funding rounds, suggesting the business is funded through operational APC revenue and corporate parent support rather than venture or private equity capital. Technology surface is limited to the publishing platform itself, with no public API, SDK, or AI/ML capabilities disclosed in the source material.

Name

F1000Research

Legal name

F1000 Research Limited

Website

https://f1000research.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

F1000Research is an open access scientific publishing platform offering rapid, post-publication peer review across all disciplines, monetized via article processing charges and operated as a subsidiary of Taylor & Francis Group (Informa).

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Scholarly Publishing Platform

NAICS

Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers (5131)

SIC

Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721), Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)

akta.pro primary industry

Interdisciplinary & Multidisciplinary Scholarly Publishing (EDAGAFAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Academic & Scholarly Journals Publishing (Peer-Reviewed) (MPAJABAC), Open Access Scholarly Journals & Monographs (EDAGAFAJ)

Keywords

• Open access publishing
• Scholarly publishing platform
• Peer review system
• Academic journal publishing
• Research article publishing

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Article Processing Charges (APCs): Authors pay article processing charges to publish their research openly. The platform offers rapid publication with transparent peer review in exchange for these fees. APCs fund the editorial and publishing operations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

F1000Research operates an open access publishing platform that provides rapid publication of research outputs across all academic disciplines combined with transparent open peer review where reviewer reports and author responses are published alongside articles. Authors submit manuscripts through a self-service online portal, articles are published quickly upon submission, and articles that pass peer review are indexed in major databases including PubMed, Scopus, Crossref, and DOAJ. The platform also offers branded institutional and subject-specific gateways for research institutions, funders, and societies.

Product overview

F1000Research is a single unified open access publishing platform that provides rapid publication and open peer review services for researchers across all disciplines. The platform supports multiple article types and offers rapid & transparent publishing with open peer review, multiple article types, indexing services, and editorial support. It covers subject areas including Natural Sciences, Medical and Health Sciences, Social Sciences, Engineering and Technology, Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences, and Humanities and the Arts.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Gateways & Collections: Subject-specific research publishing gateways and curated collections for research funders, institutions, and societies.

Products and services

• F1000Research Platform Open access publishing platform providing rapid and transparent publication of research outputs across all academic disciplines, with named-expert open peer review where reviewer reports and author responses are published alongside articles. Articles passing peer review are indexed in PubMed, Scopus, Crossref, and DOAJ. Targets academic researchers, institutions, and funders globally.
• Gateways & Collections Branded subject-specific and institutional publishing gateways hosted on F1000Research that provide open access publishing services for partner institutions, funders, and societies. Examples include the Japan Institutional Gateway, NC3Rs, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, ELIXIR, and YCharOS antibody characterization gateway.

Quantifiable outcome

• Indexing in major databases (PubMed, Scopus, Crossref, DOAJ)

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.

• WellcomecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWellcome is a major research funder that partners with F1000Research to support open access publishing of funded research.
• Gates FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Gates Foundation partners with F1000Research to enable open access publication of research funded by the foundation.
• European CommissioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe European Commission partners with F1000Research to support open access publishing of EU-funded research projects.
• Taylor & Francis GroupflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerF1000 Research Ltd is a member of the Taylor & Francis Group, which is an Informa business. Taylor & Francis is the parent company providing publishing infrastructure and resources.
• Japan Institutional GatewayminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorJapan Institutional Gateway is a branded gateway hosted on F1000Research, providing open access publishing services for Japanese research institutions.
• NC3RsminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNC3Rs (National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement & Reduction of Animals in Research) has a gateway on F1000Research for publishing research in this domain.
• Manipal Academy of Higher EducationminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorManipal Academy of Higher Education has an institutional gateway on F1000Research for publishing research from their institution.
• ELIXIRminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorELIXIR has a gateway on F1000Research for publishing life science and bioinformatics research.
• YCharOS (Antibody Characterization through Open Science)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorYCharOS is a partner gateway focused on antibody characterization through open science, hosted on F1000Research.
• Research4LifecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerF1000Research is a partner of Research4Life, providing access to research for developing countries.
• CrossRefcoreTechnology or IntegrationF1000Research participates in CrossRef for DOI assignment and metadata services for published articles.
• ORCIDcoreTechnology or IntegrationF1000Research integrates with ORCID for author identification and attribution.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• MDPI: MDPI runs a large portfolio of open access, peer-reviewed journals funded by APCs across all disciplines. It is a direct competitor to F1000Research with very similar APC-funded OA positioning.
• Frontiers: Frontiers operates open access, peer-reviewed journals across scientific disciplines using a paid review and APC-funded model. It is a direct competitor to F1000Research in OA journal publishing with similar speed and transparency messaging.
• eLife: eLife publishes open access, peer-reviewed research with an emphasis on rapid review and transparent reviewer assessment. It overlaps directly with F1000Research on OA, transparent peer review, and life sciences/researcher audience.
• PLOS (PLOS ONE / PLOS Biology): PLOS pioneered open access, peer-reviewed scientific publishing with APC revenue model across disciplines. It is a direct competitor to F1000Research on both business model and positioning as a multidisciplinary OA venue.
• PeerJ: PeerJ operates an open access, APC-funded scholarly publishing platform covering the biological and medical sciences. It is a direct peer to F1000Research given its similar OA, APC-funded, peer-reviewed publishing model and researcher-targeted audience.
• BioMed Central (BMC, Springer Nature): BMC is one of the largest open access publishers, offering APC-funded peer-reviewed journals across biomedicine and beyond. It is a direct competitor to F1000Research on OA journal publishing, and operates under the same Springer Nature/T&F-adjacent publishing universe.

Broad incumbents

• Springer Nature: Springer Nature is one of the largest academic publishers with a broad portfolio that includes OA journals, subscription journals, and book imprints. It overlaps with F1000Research through its OA offerings (BMC, Nature Communications) while serving a much wider scope.
• Wiley (Open Access journals): Wiley publishes a broad portfolio of subscription and open access journals across disciplines. It is comparable as a broad incumbent increasingly expanding OA capacity in competition with F1000Research's OA platform.
• Elsevier: Elsevier is the largest traditional academic publisher, increasingly offering OA options across its journal portfolio. It competes indirectly with F1000Research for high-quality OA submissions and institutional relationships.

Emerging players

• JMIR Publications: JMIR Publications is an OA, peer-reviewed publisher focused on digital health and technology in healthcare, with APC revenue model. It overlaps with F1000Research's OA APC-funded model and serves a related but narrower segment.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/F1000Research
• Facebookfacebook.com/F1000Research

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 F1000Research