# Emerald Group Publishing

Emerald Publishing Limited is a scholarly publisher of academic journals and books, headquartered in Leeds, England. Originally focused in the areas of social sciences and management, including management, business, education, and library studies, Emerald also publishes in the areas of health, science, engineering, and technology.
Emerald Publishing began as an independent publishing house, formed by Keith Howard (OBE) and a group of management academics from the University of Bradford. Howard stepped down as Chairman of the Emerald Group in 2017. Vicky Williams became the CEO of Emerald Publishing in 2018, replacing Richard Bevan, who took over Howard's role of Executive Chairman. Emerald Group Publishing was acquired by US-based Cambridge Information Group on 10 June 2022.

## History

Emerald was founded in the United Kingdom in 1967 as Management Consultants Bradford (MCB) UP Ltd. The publisher changed its name to Emerald in 2002 following the success of its Emerald Fulltext database.
In 2007, Emerald acquired a programme of Management and Social Science book serials, series and monographs from Elsevier.
In 2011, Emerald acquired health and social care publisher Pier Professional Limited, and in 2015, they acquired GoodPractice, a provider of support tools for leaders and senior managers. In 2020, Good Practice, Towards Maturity and Mind Tools were combined under Emerald.
On 10 June 2022, Cambridge Information Group acquired Emerald Group Publishing.
As of 23 May 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited acquired the book catalog of Thomas Telford Limited (TTL) including 35 journal titles and other related publishing assets, from the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE). The New Engineering Contract (NEC) Guides were not included in the sale.

## Sustainability and inclusivity

As early as 2018, Emerald Publishing issued a Real Impact Manifesto, challenging publishers and the research community to reconsider their operations in terms of impact and sustainability. In 2020, Emerald Publishing became a founding signatory of the SDG Publishers Compact, and advocates for sustainability and inclusivity in research and publishing. Two of Emerald's journals, Smart and Sustainable Built Environment and Gender in Management, were in the six out of 100 journals to receive the highest possible "Five Wheel" impact rating from the SDG Impact Intensity™ journal rating system, based on an analysis of data from 2016–2020 that assessed relevance to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Emerald has commissioned two global inclusivity reports (2020 and 2022) to assess diversity and inclusion in the academic sector. Responses from academics indicated that nearly 1/3 of academics experienced forms of discrimination and anti-inclusion, with women experiencing such behaviors at much higher rates than men. Men were more likely to say they had not experienced bullying or discrimination and were almost twice as likely to feel that inclusivity did not provide noticeable benefits. Sixty percent of responding academics said their institution had taken steps to promote inclusivity in their work environment. Feminine values are integral to the organisation, following organisational objectives to promote inclusion and conhesion among the authors it publishes. Ninety percent believed that greater inclusion could improve academia by promoting different ways of thinking.

## Sponsorships

In 2017, Emerald became the title sponsor of Headingley Stadium with it being renamed Emerald Headingley. As part of the deal the new main stand was named The Emerald Stand. Emerald withdrew their sponsorship in November 2021, following an alleged racism scandal involving the Yorkshire County Cricket Club.