International Society for Horticultural Science

What International Society for Horticultural Science does

The International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS) is a Belgium-domiciled, membership-based scientific society that functions as the principal international platform for horticultural research collaboration and dissemination. Established in 1959 and headquartered at Corbeekhoeve in Korbeek-Lo, the organization serves over 70,000 members including individual researchers, students, universities, governments, institutions, libraries, and commercial companies across approximately 50 country/region members. Its core offerings span peer-reviewed publishing (Acta Horticulturae with 77,500+ full-text articles, Chronica Horticulturae quarterly magazine, Scripta Horticulturae series, and the eJHS journal now rebranding to JISHS from January 2027), scientific meetings (a quadrennial International Horticultural Congress with ~3,000 delegates, three regional congress cycles, and 30+ annual specialized symposia), and a Working Group governance structure of approximately 100 subject-area groups organized under Divisions and Commissions.

ISHS operates a community-led go-to-market model in which membership is the primary gateway to discounted symposia registration, waived abstract submission fees (EUR 80 for non-members), 25% article processing charge discounts on eJHS, free or discounted access to publications, and eligibility for Young Minds awards, travel fellowships, and mentoring. Technology infrastructure is functional rather than differentiated: the actahort.org digital library hosts the Acta Horticulturae archive, ROSA handles abstract and manuscript submission, ScholarOne via the CABI Digital Library supports eJHS from January 2025, and HortForum/HortDialogues webinars provide mid-funnel engagement. Revenue is generated through a hybrid of subscription recurring streams (membership dues, corporate memberships) and transaction-based streams (publication unit sales, APCs, symposium and congress registration, abstract submission fees), with no equity funding, no parent company, and no public disclosure of financials. Distribution is global and primarily digital, supplemented by regionally organized in-person symposia and congresses.

The society is governed by a Board of Directors elected at the quadrennial International Horticultural Congress, with François Laurens serving as President. Recent strategic activity centers on a journal publishing partnership with CABI effective January 2025, a brand modernization (new website, logo, newsletter, and LinkedIn presence) launched September 2025, the discontinuation of the Fruits journal and expansion of eJHS scope into tropical and subtropical horticulture, the upcoming JISHS rebranding in January 2027, and continued community alliances such as ProMusa in banana research.

Name

International Society for Horticultural Science

Legal name

International Society for Horticultural Science

Website

https://ishs.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1959

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS) is a Belgium-based, membership-driven scientific society serving over 70,000 researchers, students, universities, and industry members worldwide. It publishes peer-reviewed journals and proceedings (Acta Horticulturae, eJHS/JISHS, Chronica Horticulturae), and organizes a quadrennial International Horticultural Congress plus 30+ annual symposia across 100+ Working Groups.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Scientific Publishing and Professional Society Services

NAICS

Professional Organizations (813920), Business Associations (813910)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721), Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)

akta.pro primary industry

Scholarly Society & Association Publishing (EDAGAFAK)

Keywords

• Scientific publishing services
• Horticultural research association
• International scientific congress
• Peer-reviewed proceedings
• Professional society membership

Headquarters

HQ city

Korbeek-lo

HQ country

Belgium

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: Annual membership fees from individual members, institutional members, and approximately 50 country/region members. Membership categories include individual professionals, students, early-career professionals, retired professionals, and corporate members.
2. Publication Sales: Sales of Acta Horticulturae symposium proceedings, individual article downloads, and Scripta Horticulturae series. Corporate members receive equivalent benefits to 5 individual memberships for employee downloads.
3. Event Registration Fees: Registration fees for International Horticultural Congress (quadrennial, ~3,000 delegates), regional congresses (Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America), and 30+ annual ISHS symposia. Members receive discounted rates.
4. Journal Article Processing Charges: Open access publication fees for European Journal of Horticultural Science (eJHS). Members receive 25% discount on APCs. eJHS is published by CABI for ISHS from January 2025.
5. Abstract Submission Fees: EUR 80 abstract submission charge for non-members. ISHS individual members receive full waiver of this fee.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

International Society for Horticultural Science is a non-profit scientific membership society that publishes peer-reviewed horticultural research (Acta Horticulturae proceedings, Chronica Horticulturae magazine, Scripta Horticulturae monographs, and the European Journal of Horticultural Science), organizes international scientific events (quadrennial International Horticultural Congress, 30+ annual symposia, and regional congresses), and operates supporting digital platforms (actahort.org library, ROSA submission system, HortForum/HortDialogues webinars) along with professional development programs such as Young Minds awards and 100+ Working Groups.

Product overview

ISHS is a scientific membership organization rather than a software product company. Its core offerings consist of academic publishing products (Acta Horticulturae conference proceedings, Chronica Horticulturae magazine, Scripta Horticulturae special issues, and the eJHS/JISHS peer-reviewed journal), international conference products (the quadrennial International Horticultural Congress, 30+ annual specialized Symposia, and three Regional Congresses), online platforms (ROSA for article submission, the membership directory, and HortForum/HortDialogues webinars), and professional development programs (Young Minds awards, travel fellowships, mentoring, and Working Groups for specialized scientific collaboration). The organization serves over 70,000 researchers, educators, students, and industry professionals in horticultural science worldwide.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Acta Horticulturae Peer-reviewed symposium proceedings and monographs in horticultural science, published by ISHS and available digitally via actahort.org for researchers, institutions, and members.
• Chronica Horticulturae Quarterly magazine distributed to ISHS members with society news, event calendars, working group reports, and horticultural science articles.
• European Journal of Horticultural Science (eJHS) Official peer-reviewed open access journal of ISHS, published by CABI from January 2025, covering applied and fundamental aspects of the entire food value chain for temperate, Mediterranean, tropical, and subtropical horticultural crops.
• Scripta Horticulturae Standalone monograph series on specialized horticultural topics including genetic resources, bonsai, and crop-specific development guides, offered to members and sold to non-members.
• International Horticultural Congress (IHC) ISHS's flagship quadrennial global congress bringing together approximately 3,000 horticultural scientists and industry professionals for presentations, poster sessions, field trips, and networking.
• ISHS Symposia Program of more than 30 specialized annual international symposia on focused horticultural topics, organized locally in member countries, with proceedings published in Acta Horticulturae.
• Regional Congresses Quadrennial regional congresses held between IHC events in Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America/Caribbean to serve regional horticultural communities.
• ROSA Online Article Submission System Online article submission and peer review system used by ISHS symposium participants to submit and manage abstracts and manuscripts.
• Young Minds Program Career development program for ISHS student and early-career members offering awards, travel fellowships, mentorship, academic exchange, and internship opportunities.
• HortForum and HortDialogues Webinars Free online webinar series for ISHS members delivering scientific presentations and panel discussions across horticultural science topics.
• ISHS Membership Annual society membership for individuals, students, retired professionals, institutions, corporates, and country/region members, granting access to publications, discounted event registration, and Working Group participation.
• ISHS Working Groups Network of approximately 100 specialized subject-area groups within ISHS Divisions and Commissions enabling targeted scientific collaboration, chaired symposia, and community leadership opportunities.

Quantifiable outcome

• International Horticultural Congresses attract around 3,000 delegates
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• CABIcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025ISHS and CABI entered into a journal publishing partnership from January 2025. Under this agreement, eJHS (European Journal of Horticultural Science) is published by CABI for and on behalf of ISHS. The partnership facilitates development of ISHS journal publishing activities and enables journal titles to join CABI's Digital Library. Fruits journal ceased publication from 2025 with its scope merged into eJHS. ISHS members receive 25% discount on article processing charges.
• ProMusacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProMusa is a community that brings together scientists and other stakeholders working on banana, organized in alliance with ISHS. The partnership includes organizing scientific symposia (with proceedings published in Acta Horticulturae), producing the InfoMus@ newsletter, maintaining Musapedia knowledge compendium, and managing databases including Musalit (banana references), Musarama (image bank), and Musacontacts (expert directory).

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Regional players

• European Society for Agronomy (ESA): A Europe-focused agronomy society with analogous membership, congresses, and publication activities. Overlaps with ISHS where agronomy meets horticulture but is geographically narrower in scope.

Broad incumbents

• CABI: An international not-for-profit intergovernmental organization in agricultural and applied life sciences publishing. CABI is both a strategic publishing partner for ISHS's eJHS and a comparable peer in global agricultural scientific publishing, distribution, and knowledge services.
• Crop Science Society of America (CSSA): A major scientific society publishing Crop Science and other journals, with international membership, annual meetings, and a Working Groups/divisions structure analogous to ISHS. It addresses adjacent crop and agronomic sciences rather than horticulture specifically.
• Royal Horticultural Society (RHS): The UK's premier gardening and horticulture organization with deep publishing programs (The Garden journal, botanical publications), membership base, and international influence. RHS is significantly larger and more consumer-focused than ISHS but overlaps in horticultural science publishing and member-driven knowledge exchange.
• Genetics Society of America (GSA): A scientific society publishing GENETICS and G3 journals with international membership and annual conferences. While focused on genetics rather than horticulture, GSA is structurally comparable to ISHS in operating model and serves an overlapping academic audience.
• International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN): A large international scientific and conservation organization with membership across countries and institutions, publishing programs, and quadrennial congresses. IUCN is much larger and conservation-focused but comparable as a globally networked scientific society with membership-based funding.

Direct peers

• International Association for Plant Taxonomy (IAPD/IAPT): A global scientific society for plant taxonomy that operates with membership, international congresses, and peer-reviewed journals (Taxon). Comparable to ISHS in governance, member-driven model, and scholarly publishing focus on plant sciences.
• International Society for Plant Pathology (ISPP): A global scientific society for plant pathology that similarly operates through membership, working groups, international congresses, and a peer-reviewed journal (Plant Pathology). It mirrors ISHS's structure of volunteer-driven scientific organization with international scope.
• American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS): The leading US-based professional society for horticultural science, ASHS is the closest direct peer to ISHS in mission, publishing (HortScience, HortTechnology, Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science), annual conferences, and member services. ISHS and ASHS jointly sponsor the Miklos Faust travel award.
• Botanical Society of America (BSA): A US-rooted but international scientific society promoting botanical research through publications (American Journal of Botany), annual conferences, and sections analogous to ISHS Working Groups. Highly comparable in operating model and member base composition.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ishs_hort
• Facebookfacebook.com/ishs.org
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/international-society-for-horticultural-science-ishs-

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

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M&A

Investments

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