Geographic drivers of scientific research, and hence research publishing, are changing. Research publishing is one of the most attractive subsegments within professional information services: we reaffirm our Outperform ratings on Relx, Informa, and Springer Nature. Our proprietary tracking of volume and prices for over 7,500 journals and over 120 subscription contract renewals points to a solid finish for 2024 and a strong start to 2025, with likely supportive comments in the upcoming results season. Informa is our top pick - see our detailed report here. Geographic drivers of research publishing are changing - and pointing to an acceleration Our work on article publication volumes shows that the geographic drivers of scientific research and hence research publishing are changing. China, India, Saudi Arabia are now more important drivers of article volume growth than Western Europe or the US. The recent decision of the Indian government to increase spending on scientific journals by c40% is one reason to anticipate faster organic revenue growth ahead for publishers in 2025. Margins to benefit from internal deployment of AI automation tools We stand 30-60bps ahead of consensus on divisional adj. op. profit margins as we expect the ongoing deployment of AI automation tools to drive a reduction in cost per article, improve publishing efficiency and contribute to margin expansion. Springer Nature and Informa show strongest potential for positive surprises at FY Informa trades at the lower end of its peer group and offers over 7% Eq. FCF yield. We believe the company is entering a new phase with reduced spending on MandA, more cash returns and further strong operating trends (results 6 March). Springer Nature shows potential to beat on FY24 and to provide solid guidance for FY25 (results 18 March). Its 5.9% Eq. FCF yield offers attractive remuneration pending a needed liquidity event. We expect Relx STM organic revenue growth to accelerate and margin to...