Highlights:
Wiley’s “Breakout Year” — FY2026 Adjusted Operating Margin hits a record 17.7% (+260bps), AI revenue reaches $49M (+23%), Free Cash Flow jumps 55% to $195M.
Wiley acquires Emerald Publishing from Cambridge Information Group in a £337m Deal. and adds approximately 500 journal brands and 8,000 book titles to the Wiley catalog.
Bookpact.ai Launches — Dutch publishers (VBK, WPG, Lannoo, Maven) plus distributor CB launch the first purpose-built, EU AI Act–aligned, opt-in AI licensing marketplace for books, available in English, with title-by-title granularity across training, summarization, translation, and quotation use cases. The first credible industry infrastructure for monetizing AI rights.
Reporting Summary:
Revenue: $1,677M (flat, inclusive of divestitures); Adjusted Revenue +1% at constant currency
Adjusted Operating Income: $296M (+18%); Record Adjusted Operating Margin: 17.7% (+260bps)
Adjusted EBITDA: $440M (+10%); Margin 26.2% (+220bps)
GAAP Operating Income: $277M (+25%); GAAP EPS: $4.16 vs. $1.53 prior year
Research Segment: Revenue +4% at constant currency to ~$1.13B; EBITDA margin +110bps to 33.2%
AI Revenue: $49M (+23%); Lifetime AI revenue surpassed $110M; IQVIA and Open Evidence landmark partnerships; Chief AI and Data Analytics Officer appointed. The company's Nexus AI licensing service expanded to 41 publisher partners.
Free Cash Flow: $195M (+55%); Operating Cash Flow $261M (+29%)
Shareholder Returns: $174M returned; $100M buybacks; dividend raised for 32nd consecutive year. Dividend: $0.3575/quarter = $1.43/year
Post-year-end actions: Emerald acquisition (adds ~500 journals); new Research leader appointed from Microsoft
These are the strongest financial results presented in several years and validates CEO Matt Kisner’s strategy to focus on fundamentals, clear out non-performing assets, acknowledge the power of AI/LLM licensing to change their business and seek accretive acquisitions (Emerald). The AI revenue line ($49M, +23%) is now large enough to move the numbers; at $110M lifetime to date. The Emerald deal adds another 500 journals of high-quality social science content to the AI licensing catalog. With Kisner leading the way, Wiley has committed to two track model: Research publishing (with a new head of business in place) and AI/data analytics (also with a new Chief officer managing). These FY2026 results validate the model and strategic pathway. The company is shifting from one-time data deals to subscription-led models, aiming for significant growth in recurring AI revenue, while aggressively expanding its research footprint. AI revenues are expected to exceed $50MM in FY27.
AI Peer Review Crisis: 42% Submission Surge; 21% AI-Generated ICLR Reviews Source: Pangram | November 2025
Manuscript submissions across major journals has surged approximately 42% over the past 18 months as authors leverage AI tools to accelerate research and reporting. At ICLR 2026 (International Conference on Learning Representations), an estimated 21% of peer review responses were found to be fully AI-generated. The first dedicated AI detection tools for peer reviews have been deployed by several publishers.
From Pangram: “We found 21%, or 15,899 reviews, were fully AI-generated. We found over half of the reviews had some form of AI involvement, either AI editing, assistance, or full AI-generation.”
Clearly, the pace of AI usage – both for the good and nefarious is moving at a pace that editorial and production staff cannot match. There is an identify crisis and will get progressively problematic unless the industry is able to address this in a collaborative and effective manner.
Publishers investing in AI-review detection infrastructure (Elsevier, Wiley, Springer Nature) face a permanent arms race against nefarious parties, and the editorial cost base will rise as a result of technological investments in detection tools. STM should opt for collaboration in an effort to share costs and experiences. It is not likely that AI detection should be a competitive advantage.
For those looking for hints, Pangram offers some ideas:
If you’re an author who suspects you’ve received an AI-generated review, there are several telltale signs you can look for. While Pangram can detect AI-generated text, you can also spot the signs of AI reviews by eye.
We have put together a general guide to detecting AI writing patterns by eye, but we do notice some additional signals and markers present specifically within AI peer reviews.
Library Ebook Pricing Crisis Update: Communications Toolkit, Coalition Statement, Jefferson County Data. Source: Urban Libraries Council, June 2026
The Urban Libraries Council published a full Communications Toolkit (”Messaging the E-books Crisis”) in June 2026 for member libraries to use in public advocacy. A coalition of five library associations (ULC, PLA, CULC, COSLA, ARSL) issued a joint statement May 26 on ebook pricing. Jefferson County (CO) reported some of their own data: $22,000 for 360 ebook licenses vs. $3,300 for 166 print books — illustrating 6x+ price disparity. HarperCollins reportedly averaging 17.3% annualized ebook license price increases for libraries.
NJ Legislative bill S1674 (ebook pricing transparency bill) is progressing in the New Jersey legislature and other bills in Maryland and New York are also being considered. Libraries are attempting to bring consumers and the public into this debate which thusfar has not gained public attention.
An Interesting initiative: Bookpact.ai launched by Dutch Publishers as an Opt-In AI Licensing Platform (June 22, 2026) Source: Publishing Perspectives. Around the Book World: Monday, June 29th, 2026 - Publishing Perspectives
Dutch publishers VBK, WPG, Lannoo, and Maven, plus distributor CB, launched Bookpact.ai on June 22, 2026 as a two-sided commercial platform: Publishers (with author consent) specify which titles may be included, which AI use type (training, summation, translation, quotation) and for what time duration; AI companies submit per-title license offers; publishers accept or reject. Six governing principles: prior consent, fair compensation, content integrity/attribution, traceability, European focus, sustainability. Bookpact.ai provides compliant infrastructure that non-EU AI companies will need to access European content legally. With these types of initiatives, the driver will be whether network effects can create a sufficient market place that makes coming there cost effective and useful.
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