Print on Demand (POD) from a Publisher's Viewpoint: The Case of Taylor & Francis Journals

Abstract

Print on demand (POD) has been gathering momentum in all areas of book production, most notably over the past five years. Increased use of POD is the result of significant improvements: first, in technology (file supply, content management and data quality) and, second, in the quality of what is being produced. These two factors, combined with the increasing market penetration of digital printing for journals and the relatively low numbers of print subscribers, make POD a very relevant consideration for journal publishers. The question for journal publishers has been: how do we make it work for journals? Taylor & Francis answered this question by developing over the past two years an initiative termed ‘Distributed Print on Demand’ (DPOD) where journal issues are printed and despatched simultaneously from three global locations (USA, UK and Singapore), near to the subscriber.