The e-book management platform market is experiencing robust growth, driven by the increasing popularity of e-readers and digital content consumption. While precise market sizing data is unavailable, considering the substantial growth of the digital publishing industry and the demand for efficient e-book organization and management tools, a reasonable estimate for the 2025 market size could be placed at $250 million. A Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 15% over the forecast period (2025-2033) reflects the ongoing adoption of e-book readers, tablets, and smartphones as primary reading devices, alongside the rising need for efficient solutions to manage growing digital libraries. Key drivers include the increasing accessibility of e-books, the growing preference for digital reading experiences, and advancements in e-book management software features like cross-platform synchronization, annotation capabilities, and robust search functionalities. Trends point towards the integration of AI-powered features such as personalized recommendations and automated organization. However, restraints such as the relatively high cost of some premium software and the learning curve associated with new platforms may limit market penetration, particularly among less tech-savvy users. The market is segmented by platform type (desktop, mobile, web-based), functionality (basic organization, advanced features), and pricing model (freemium, subscription, one-time purchase). Competitors, such as Calibre, Adobe Digital Editions, and Soda PDF, cater to different user segments with varying levels of features and pricing. The market is expected to see increased consolidation and innovation in the coming years, leading to a more competitive landscape. The forecast period (2025-2033) suggests significant expansion opportunities for e-book management platform providers. Companies need to focus on enhancing user experience, developing AI-powered functionalities, and strategically targeting specific user segments to capitalize on market growth. Geographic expansion into emerging markets with a growing digital literacy rate will also present a significant opportunity. Continuous innovation to address evolving user needs and offer seamless integration with other digital reading ecosystems will play a crucial role in shaping the future of this market. Furthermore, collaboration with e-book publishers and content providers could create synergistic partnerships, expanding market reach and improving product offerings. Security features, ensuring data privacy and protection against unauthorized access, will also be increasingly crucial aspects of software development.

University academics face multiple pressures to publish. These pressures emanate from contexts with different, often competing, social norms which result in academics publishing for reasons that may run counter to accepted scientific practice. This paper asks what decisions are being taken by academics when it comes to their choice of scholarly book publisher. An analysis of books selected from more than 2,500 self-reported scholarly publications produced by academics at Makerere University in Uganda from 2011 to 2017, reveals that 31 scholarly books were published. Of these books, more than half (54%) were published by publishers that do not follow accepted scholarly publishing practice. Findings also show that there was a sharp decline in books published with suspect publishers in the second half of the seven-year period. The article discusses possible reasons for the selection of suspect publishers and considers four factors that may account for the observable decline: (1) a cyclical downturn; (2) improved research management and reporting; (3) explication of the norms of science; and (4) self-correction.

METHODS

The specific interest of this study is the publication of scholarly books by academics at Makerere University.

The sources of the publications data were the lists of research outputs published in Makerere University’s annual reports from 2011 to 2017. Digital copies of the annual reports in PDF format were downloaded from the university’s website. Data were scraped from the annual report PDFs by exporting the publication lists from the PDFs to MSWord, removing unnecessary line breaks and spacing to create a single publication per line, and copying the publication lists into MSExcel for cleaning and analysis. Data were cleaned to remove (1) duplicate entries (e.g. identical publications in the same annual report or a publication listed as ‘under review’ or ‘in press’ in one year and listed again as a publication in a following year); (2) publications listed as ‘submitted’, unpublished masters and PhD theses, speeches, lectures, responses or retractions; (3) incomplete entries (e.g. no article, book or journal title); and (4) publications prior to 2011 (e.g. a 2008 publication listed in the 2011 annual report).

The cleaned data were then coded for ‘year of publication’ (2011 to 2017 inclusive), ‘college’ (any of the colleges at Makerere University to which the authors were affiliated), and ‘publication type’ (book chapter, journal article, edited volume, working paper, policy brief, monograph, conference paper, textbook, report, popular article, poster presentation, newsletter, essay, catalogue, poetry, handbook). Books or parts of books (i.e. ‘book chapter’, ‘edited volume’, ‘monograph’, ‘textbook’, ‘catalogue’, ‘poetry’ and ‘handbook’) were further coded for ‘publisher’ (name); ‘publisher location’ (city, country as indicated on the imprint page of the publication); and ‘URL’ (online reference to publisher or publication). In some cases, publications were listed by type in the annual reports. Where publication lists were not presented in this way, indicators such as ‘journal of’, ‘volume’, ‘issue’ and ISSNs were used to identify journals; conference names, ‘proceedings of’, dates and cities were used to identify conference papers and presentations; ‘news’, ‘magazine’, ISSNs and the absence of ‘journal of’ were used to identify periodicals; and place of publication, publisher and ISBNs were used to identify books. Where these indicators were insufficient to determine a publication type, an online search was done to find the missing data.

A limitation of the adopted method is that it relies on self-reporting by the university colleges and the list can therefore not be assumed to be comprehensive. Without knowledge of the reporting guidelines, it is also not possible to know whether all colleges and schools used the same criteria when selecting what to submit for reporting purposes. For example, some colleges may have decided to include working papers, policy briefs or papers presented at conferences, while others may have decided not to do so.

The global online literature market is experiencing steady growth, projected to reach $1843.9 million in 2025 and maintain a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 3.2% from 2025 to 2033. This growth is fueled by several factors. Increased smartphone and internet penetration, especially in developing economies, significantly expands the potential audience for digital books and online reading platforms. The rising popularity of e-readers and subscription-based services offering unlimited access to online literature further contributes to market expansion. Furthermore, the convenience of accessing a vast library of content anytime, anywhere, coupled with the affordability of digital books compared to their print counterparts, is driving consumer adoption. The diverse segments within the online literature market, encompassing various formats (PDF, EPUB, Kindle, etc.) and applications (books, newspapers, magazines, academic papers, etc.), cater to a wide range of reader preferences and needs, contributing to market diversification and growth. The significant presence of established players like Amazon, Apple, and others, alongside emerging platforms, ensures a competitive landscape fostering innovation and accessibility. However, concerns surrounding piracy and the challenges of maintaining robust copyright protection remain significant restraints to consider. The market segmentation across regions demonstrates a significant presence in North America and Europe, reflecting established digital infrastructure and reading habits. However, rapid growth is anticipated in Asia Pacific, driven by rising internet penetration and increasing literacy rates. The consistent expansion of digital content creation, including self-published works and online serials, enriches the available content and diversifies the market. The ongoing development of innovative reading technologies, like augmented reality integration and personalized reading experiences, will likely continue to fuel market growth in the coming years. While challenges remain, the overall outlook for the online literature market remains positive, projecting substantial growth throughout the forecast period.