Society for General Microbiology

Name

Society for General Microbiology

Legal name

Society for General Microbiology

Website

https://sgmjournals.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1945

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Academic Journal Publishing

NAICS

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

SIC

Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYEDAGAFAC

Life Sciences (Biology, Ecology, Agriculture) Scholarly Publishing

Education/Educational Publishing & Learning Content/Academic & Scholarly Publishing (Journals, Monographs)

Keywords

• Academic journal publishing
• Microbiology research journals
• Peer-reviewed publishing
• Scholarly content platform
• Scientific society publishing

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Journal Publishing and Subscriptions: The Society operates as a not-for-profit publisher generating revenue through journal subscriptions and potentially open access fees. Surplus is returned to the research community through grants, events, and prizes.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

The Society for General Microbiology is a UK-based not-for-profit scientific society that publishes a portfolio of five peer-reviewed microbiology journals (Microbiology, Journal of General Virology, Journal of Medical Microbiology, International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, and JMM Case Reports). It preserves and disseminates peer-reviewed research across bacteriology, virology, genomics, taxonomy, and medical microbiology, returning any surplus to the research community through grants, events, and prizes.

Product overview

SGM Journals is a not-for-profit academic publishing platform that preserves peer-reviewed research across bacteriology, virology, genomics, taxonomy, and medical microbiology. The portfolio consists of five research journals: Microbiology (the flagship journal founded 1947), Journal of General Virology (1967), Journal of Medical Microbiology (1968), International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology (1951), and JMM Case Reports (2014). The platform serves as an archival record, ensuring published output remains accessible to the research community.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Microbiology: The flagship journal of the Society for General Microbiology, covering all aspects of microbiology. Founded 1947.
• Journal of General Virology
• Journal of Medical Microbiology
• International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology
• JMM Case Reports

Products and services

• Microbiology The flagship peer-reviewed journal of the Society for General Microbiology, covering all aspects of microbiology (ISSN 1350-0872). Founded in 1947. For researchers, academics, and institutions in microbiology and related life sciences.
• Journal of General Virology Peer-reviewed research journal covering viruses of animals, plants, insects, bacteria, and fungi (ISSN 0022-1317). Founded in 1967. For virologists and the wider microbiology research community.
• Journal of Medical Microbiology Peer-reviewed journal covering medical, dental and veterinary microbiology, virology, mycology, and parasitology (ISSN 0022-2615). Founded in 1968. For clinicians and researchers in medical microbiology and infectious disease.
• International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology The official journal of record for novel prokaryotic and microbial taxa (ISSN 1466-5026). Founded in 1951. For taxonomists, evolutionary microbiologists, and the wider microbiology community.
• JMM Case Reports Peer-reviewed journal publishing case reports across medical microbiology and infectious disease (ISSN 2053-3721). Founded in 2014. For clinicians and microbiologists reporting infectious disease cases.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• Strong HealthminorOthersListed as a partner on the SGM Journals website footer, likely a website services or advertising partner.
• Thrive TalkminorOthersListed as a partner on the SGM Journals website footer, likely a website services or advertising partner.
• DexascansminorOthersListed as a partner on the SGM Journals website footer, likely a website services or advertising partner.
• Service DogsminorOthersListed as a partner on the SGM Journals website footer, likely a website services or advertising partner.
• Cleaning MiamiminorOthersListed as a partner on the SGM Journals website footer, likely a website services or advertising partner.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Springer Nature: Large commercial publisher with a broad life sciences journal portfolio including microbiology-adjacent titles (e.g., Nature Microbiology). Represents the mega-publisher competitive threat to niche society journals.
• Wiley: Major publisher with significant microbiology, virology, and life sciences journal portfolios. Competes head-to-head in institutional licensing and open access transition strategies.
• Taylor & Francis: Large commercial publisher with hundreds of life sciences journals including microbiology titles. Competes directly for society publishing contracts and library licensing deals.
• Elsevier: Global commercial publisher with extensive life sciences and medical journal holdings, including microbiology and infectious disease titles. Competes for the same institutional subscription budgets and author submissions.
• Cambridge University Press: Academic press with a microbiology and life sciences journal portfolio; competes in the institutional subscription market and as a partner for society-published journals.
• Oxford University Press: University press with a strong academic journal list in life sciences and medicine, including microbiology and related disciplines. Competes for society publishing partnerships and library subscriptions.

Emerging players

• BioMed Central (BMC/Springer Nature): Open-access pioneer within Springer Nature publishing microbiology and life sciences journals. Directly competes for open access–mandated microbiology submissions.
• Frontiers: Open-access publisher with microbiology journals (e.g., Frontiers in Microbiology), one of the largest citation counts in the field. Represents the open access model competing against subscription-based society journals.

Direct peers

• American Society for Microbiology (ASM): Largest US microbiology society and publisher of flagship microbiology journals (Journal of Bacteriology, mBio, Journal of Virology). Operates the same not-for-profit society-publisher model as the Society for General Microbiology and serves an overlapping author/reader community in microbiology.
• Microbiology Society: UK-based learned society and the successor body to the Society for General Microbiology (which rebranded in 2011). Publishes Microbiology, Journal of General Virology, Journal of Medical Microbiology, and other peer-reviewed journals — effectively the institutional continuation of the subject company.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights4 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/international-journal-of-systematic-and-evolutionary-microbiology

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 Society for General Microbiology