Clarivate Analytics acquired Publons

Clarivate Analytics announced the acquisition of Publons and its leading global platform for researchers to share, discuss and receive recognition for peer review and editing of academic research. The acquisition brings together the world’s preeminent citation database and the world’s largest researcher-facing peer-review data and recognition platform.

“Clarivate Analytics is investing aggressively to enhance existing analytics, insights and workflow optimization solutions, and to identify new ways to help our customers accelerate innovation,” said Jay Nadler, CEO of Clarivate Analytics. “In just five years Publons has built the largest and most trustworthy reviewer discovery tool in the world, with eight of the top 10 publishers and more than 150,000 reviewers using the platform. Acquiring Publons reflects our commitment to create the definitive set of objective, publisher-independent tools for researchers, publishers, research funders and institutions, giving the experts involved in peer review the recognition they deserve.”

Clarivate is developing and delivering innovative analytics and workflow solutions that increase efficiencies across the entire research lifecycle; from idea to experiment, to peer review, to publication, dissemination and assessment. The acquisition of Publons, its platform and data, increase the value of multiple Clarivate Analytics products, while supporting researchers as they manage their careers and work across the ecosystem of funders, publishers and institutions.

“The Clarivate Analytics citation network and researcher tools, including flagship products like Web of Science, EndNote and ScholarOne, are some of the most widely used tools in research,” said Andrew Preston, co-founder of Publons. “Daniel and I founded Publons with the core belief that peer review is at the heart of research. As the pressures on scientific publishing continue to grow, we see an opportunity for Publons to have an even greater positive impact on peer review. The global scale and impartial position of Clarivate Analytics, combined with Publons, will allow us to further develop the platform, creating the tools and services that the research community needs.”

The combined strengths of Clarivate and Publons will address critical research challenges in the $1.7 trillion global research market, including fraudulent scientific research, inefficiencies in peer review that slow down research and identifying and understanding top research as funders increasingly demand demonstrable impact and proof of contributions to the research environment. Peer review is at the heart of solutions to these challenges and will drive future improvements across the research ecosystem.

Publons co-founders Andrew Preston and Daniel Johnston and all Publons employees have joined Clarivate Analytics as part of the acquisition. Publons will grow its Wellington, New Zealand base along with its London presence, and continue to sustain its entrepreneurial culture while integrating its technology with Clarivate Analytics platforms and contributing to the company’s internal innovation ecosystem.