The Scientist Magazine Ceases Publication After 25 Years

Posted on October 7, 2011

The Scientist magazine, published by London-based Science Navigation Group, is ceasing publication. The last issue of the magazine is the October 2011 issue, which is also its special twenty-fifth anniversary issue.

Columbia Journalism Review has a detailed entry on the closure of the science magazine. It includes an email from publisher Jane Hunter. Hunter says the increasingly difficult ad market, a result of the terrible economy, led to the publication's downfall. The economy has led to the downfall of many magazines.

Hunter writes, "We took this decision because we just could not make the numbers work. The Scientist depended almost completely on advertising revenues and - as I'm sure you know - the ad market is getting harder and harder to succeed in. The economics of the situation eventually gave us no choice but to close."

Nature reports that the magazine's staff were only just informed at a meeting Thursday morning that there will be no November issue.