Publishing Land Mines

I am writing in response to the message recently posted regarding Elsevier. The views of our customers, and of the scientific community as a whole, are extremely important to us and require a response.

Firstly I should explain that Elsevier (publisher of Computers and Composition) is one of the four divisions of Reed Elsevier. Reed Elsevier’s Reed Business division, which is run entirely independently of Elsevier, also owns Spearhead Exhibitions (the company which runs, amongst other things, the defence exibitions). The publisher of Computers and Composition is therefore not owner (nor has control over) Spearhead (or Reed Elsevier).

I do understand your concerns and hope that future comments will refer to the parent company, Reed Elsevier, and it’s company Spearhead, rather than being incorrectly directed at Elsevier and its journal, Computers and Composition.

I have received other queries and am passing everything up through the company so that those in Reed Elsevier are aware of the discussions currently taking place.

Below is some information on Spearhead and *Reed Elsevier*, its owner:

. Reed Exhibitions, part of Reed Business, is the world’s leading organiser of trade and consumer exhibitions with a portfolio of over 430 events in 32 countries around the world

. Reed Exhibitions portfolio is extremely diverse, covering building and construction, electronics, entertainment, food and hospitality, jewellery, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, publishing, aerospace and defence, transport and logistics, and travel

. The Reed Exhibitions group includes an exhibition company called Spearhead, which runs a portfolio of oil and gas, marine science, helicopter and defence exhibitions. Spearhead runs DSEi, a defence exhibition, which is organised in association with the UK MOD and supported by the defence industry trade associations - these include the Defence Manufacturer’s Association, Society of British Aerospace Companies, the British Naval Equipment Association and Intellect.

. The aerospace and defence portfolio of shows accounts for 1.5% of RBI’s revenues, and less than 0.5% of the total revenue of Reed Elsevier.

. Reed Elsevier believes that every country has the right to self-defence, as enshrined in Article 51 of the UN Charter. Defence exhibitions provide nations with the opportunity to protect themselves, and peacekeepers with the tools to do their jobs: not all nations have the industrial infrastructure to produce their own equipment.

. Exhibitions such as DSEi assist in ensuring there is a licensed, regulated and open market to serve bona fide individuals and reputable companies in the defence business. They serve a legitimate purpose in bringing together industry and governments in a controlled environment where scrutiny is applied not just by the organisers, but, as in the case of DSEi, by the host government.

. Reed Exhibitions monitors its exhibitions carefully; it operates a very strict policy regarding both the participants and the products allowed

. All exhibitors at DSEi have to comply with the following Acts of Parliament: The UK Export Control Act 2002, the Trade in Goods (Control) Order 2003 and the Trade in Controlled Goods (Embargoed Destinations) Order 2004. All defence equipment, which is displayed at DSEi, must comply with UK, EU and UN law and international undertakings. Show management makes sure that all exhibitors are made well aware of their obligations and are asked to withdraw if they do not comply with them

.In all of Reed Elsevier’s commercial undertakings the company adheres rigorously to its Code of Ethics and Business Conduct, and ensure it is implemented to the highest standards.

To repeat the above, Reed Elsevier is Elsevier’s parent company. Reed Elsevier, not Elsevier, owns Spearhead. Elsevier (publisher of Computers and Composition) does not have links with Spearhead other than through the parent company.

With kind regards

Sarah Oates, Publishing Editor Language & Linguistics, Elsevier Ltd

please suggest elsever seperate from reed

Sarah,

I sympathize with your position. Elsevier is facing a difficult future. Having said that I expect that your corporation will soon be facing a steady boycott. I’d suggest at this juncture that It may be in your organizations lont-term interests to recommend that your company be sold off from Reed.

While I think most will acknowledge that Article 51 makes ethical sense, the objections to Reed Exhibitions move beyond 51. Your parent company’s subsidiary has a recent and documented history of sending out formal invitations to countries whose standing military has horridus human rights records — specifically countries such as Angola, Nigeria, and Colombia and several others — all of which were formally invited to the 2003 DSEi by not the British Government, but Spearhead.

While I sympathize with you that your company shares no real operational connection to Reed Exhibitions, the profits that both companies generate are unfortunaely benefitting the same parent corporation. It’s unfortunate for all current Reed operations that your parent company has made conflicting sets of business decisions in its expansion of its two subsidiary companies: one in academic publishing, the other in arms exports. They may have to make a choice between these two industries in the not-too-distant future.