The De Boeck group is Belgium’s leading publisher and has roots going back to 1760. It has grown steadily and now specializes in 3 sectors in French and Dutch: academic texts (61% in Dutch), university texts (87% in French) and legal texts (74% in French). De Boeck has more than 4000 active titles in its catalogue, with some 500 new releases each year, and more than 2500 authors. It is ranked 1st in French language publications for schools in Belgium, 2nd in the legal sector, and 1st in French-language publications for universities in Belgium. In 2006, it had sales of €39.6 million.
The De Boeck group currently publishes under six imprints: De Boeck Education, Uigeverij De Boeck, De Boeck Université, Duculot, Estem and Larcier.
De Boeck Education
As the leading educational publisher in French-speaking Belgium, De Boeck Education offers works and collections in the following areas: kindergarten, primary, secondary, pedagogy and teacher training (kindergarten, primary and secondary).
Uitgeverij De Boeck
Uitgeverij De Boeck is a major academic publisher and deals with higher education and the university level in Dutch.
De Boeck Université
De Boeck Université is an international publisher of university texts in French, and has built up the following profile in 15 years of activity: • A catalogue of more than 1500 titles covering every field of knowledge in the humanities (history, sociology, philosophy, psychology, law, economics, management, etc.) as well as in science and technology (mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology) and medicine (anatomy, cardiology, histology, nursing, physiotherapy, etc.). • More than 900 authors from over 15 different nationalities. • Solid partnerships with the main scientific publishers in English and German. • The capacity for rapid, selective information for target groups (institutions, teachers, researchers) that takes into account their levels and teaching disciplines.
The publishing strategy of De Boeck Université is based on two main policies: • The publication of original university textbooks in the sciences, technology and the humanities, in particular for university and post-grad levels, which are now adapted to the Bologna Agreement. • The translation and adaptation into French of major textbooks, mainly in science, technology and medicine, whenever the academic, scientific and iconographic value of these works, which are usually published in English or German, make them indispensable reference tools. These policies mainly target the field of university education and are supplemented by reviews, a few scholarly collections, and publications of scientific interest, all of which reflect De Boeck Université’s ongoing effort to promote scientific works in French.
Duculot
Founded in 1919, Duculot publishes Bon Usage, the world-renowned French grammar book by Maurice Grevisse, which has been reworked by André Goosse, along with its natural companion, the Nouveau dictionnaire des difficultés du français moderne by Hanse and Blampain. Duculot publishes many scholarly and scientific works, mainly in the field of French language and linguistics. The backlist of this prestigious reference publisher is currently included in the De Boeck Université catalogue.
Estem
This publisher specializes in books aimed at medical students and physicians as well as members of the nursing profession.
Larcier
Larcier, one of the oldest law publishers in Belgium, has been the reference for the Belgian legal profession since 1839. Its publications are aimed at law practitioners, including judges, lawyers, solicitors, private- and public-sector counselors and bailiffs, as well as law students. Larcier offers them top-quality legal information. Larcier is also known particularly for the publication of the Larcier Codes, top-level scientific reviews, high-quality monographs and more general works, in both print and digital editions, in both French and Dutch. Larcier is actively working on the development of electronic publications. The publisher took a big step as an information provider with Strad@droit. This innovative tool is aimed at legal professionals and has a high-performance search engine that provides access to more than two million documents with a single click.
The De Boeck group is developing tools for electronic document management in conjunction with its digital publications, mainly in the fields of law and regulatory affairs. DBiT is a De Boeck unit that specializes in electronic document management and publication. It arose out of the merger in 2001 of two specialists in information management and publishing, Seid Consult and De Boeck Information Technology. With its systems of content management and simplified publication, DBiT offers its customers complete control of their knowledge bases. Lexalis publishes FiscalNet, FiscalWeb and SocialWeb, portals for information on tax law (Belgian and French) and labor law (Belgian), which offer content targeted specifically at professionals in these fields.
The De Boeck group is also active in the distribution sector through its subsidiaries De Boeck Services (DBS) in Belgium and De Boeck Diffusion (DBD) in France. The group promotes and distributes books and reviews from its own publishing houses as well as other specialist publishers.
