About LABO

LABO

LABO, subtitled "Fit for lab", is a German professional journal for laboratory technology and the life sciences, published by Pelemedia GmbH of Haar near Munich. With a history stretching back to the late 1960s, it supports laboratory professionals with practical guidance on handling laboratory and analytical instruments, ideas for quality assurance and control, and presentations of new devices, methods, applications and IT solutions. Its circulation of around 18,700 copies reaches decision-makers and practitioners in laboratories across industry, research and science, and its online portal labo.de extends the print edition with news, product information, webinars and an e-paper archive.

Overview

LABO is a practitioner-oriented trade journal: its authors and editors report competently and with an application focus, supporting those who work in laboratories with practical tips for everyday work. The thematic scope covers laboratory technology in the broad sense, including analytical instruments, laboratory equipment, microscopy, laboratory automation, IT in the laboratory and artificial intelligence, as well as the life sciences. Recent focus topics have included Labor 4.0, microscopy, laboratory automation, and IT and AI in the laboratory, reflecting the digitalisation of laboratory work.

According to the publisher's 2026 media data, the circulation is 18,713 copies. The annual print subscription costs 60 euros domestically and 70 euros abroad, with single issues at 12 euros. The journal is a member of the IVW audit, and its online offering participates in IVW-Online measurement. The target group is precisely defined: people working in laboratories who make or influence purchasing decisions for instruments, equipment and services, from laboratory managers to bench scientists and technicians.

A distinctive product is the LABO Kompass, a guide format that offers compact orientation for the laboratory everyday: laboratory tips, products and services, webinars, HPLC user knowledge, event tips and monthly product highlights, all accessible via labo.de/kompass. The Kompass format, promoted with the slogan "Fit for Lab?", distils the journal's service character into a quick-reference offering. The journal also publishes German-language abstracts of English original publications, giving readers insight into the international research literature.

History

LABO was in its 54th volume in 2022, which places its founding around 1968 to 1969, in the era when modern instrumental analysis was transforming laboratory work. The journal grew up alongside the German laboratory equipment industry, documenting the successive waves of technology that reshaped the laboratory: from classical wet chemistry to chromatography, spectroscopy and mass spectrometry, and from manual procedures to automated and digitised workflows.

The publisher, Pelemedia GmbH, is based at Richard-Reitzner-Allee 2, 85540 Haar, near Munich. Pelemedia is a specialist media company serving industrial technology sectors, and LABO fits into a portfolio of B2B titles with a strong service orientation. The journal has maintained its practitioner focus through the decades, adapting its content to new themes such as laboratory digitalisation, sustainability in the laboratory and the integration of AI into analytical workflows. Each era of laboratory technology has found its reflection in LABO's pages: the rise of chromatography and spectroscopy in the 1970s and 1980s, the automation wave of the 1990s, the genomics and proteomics revolution around the turn of the millennium, and the current convergence of laboratory instruments with data science and artificial intelligence. Through all of these transitions, the journal's promise to its readers has remained constant: competent, application-oriented reporting that helps laboratory professionals do their jobs better.

The digital transformation of the title has been steady: the portal labo.de provides news, product databases and the e-paper edition, while the LABO Kompass and webinar offerings reflect the shift toward continuous, multi-channel professional information. The journal's longevity, approaching sixty years, testifies to the stability of its niche: laboratories will always need independent, practical information about instruments and methods, and LABO has provided it continuously.

Content and Sections

LABO's content is organised around the practical needs of laboratory professionals. Technical features address laboratory and analytical instruments in depth: chromatography, spectroscopy, microscopy, sample preparation, laboratory automation and laboratory IT. The articles are practice-oriented and take account of new trends, with the emphasis on helping readers choose, operate and maintain equipment and on presenting new methods and applications.

Product coverage is a major pillar: the journal presents new devices, accessories and consumables, with the LABO Kompass highlighting monthly product highlights. Market overviews, such as surveys of autoclaves and steam sterilisers or spectrophotometers, give readers comparative orientation. Webinars extend the product coverage into interactive formats, allowing readers to learn directly from manufacturers and experts.

Quality assurance and control form another thematic focus: the journal supports laboratories in meeting regulatory requirements, implementing quality management systems and validating methods. IT solutions for the laboratory, from laboratory information management systems to AI applications, are covered as the digital layer of modern laboratory work. German-language abstracts of English-language original publications keep readers connected to the international scientific literature.

The e-paper edition makes the full print issue available digitally, with interactive elements, and the portal labo.de carries news, product information and the archive. The combination of print depth, digital timeliness and the Kompass quick-reference format gives the journal a multi-channel presence tailored to the working habits of laboratory professionals.

Publisher and Organization

LABO is published by Pelemedia GmbH, Richard-Reitzner-Allee 2, 85540 Haar, near Munich. Pelemedia is a B2B media company whose titles serve industrial technology markets with a combination of print journals, digital portals and marketing services. Detailed information about the current editorial leadership is not publicly confirmed in the sources consulted.

The business model combines subscriptions, advertising and digital marketing services. Advertising clients are manufacturers and distributors of laboratory instruments, equipment, consumables and IT solutions, for whom the journal's readership of laboratory decision-makers is the core market. The 2026 media data lists standard and special advertising formats, including extended e-paper advertising with interactive elements such as video integration, GIF animations, surveys and image galleries, reflecting the publisher's development of multimedia marketing products.

The journal's IVW membership provides audited circulation figures, giving advertisers verified reach data. The participation in IVW-Online extends this transparency to the digital offering. For a B2B title, this auditability is an important asset: advertisers in the laboratory market buy on the basis of verified professional reach rather than mass audience numbers.

Digital Presence

The portal labo.de is the digital centre of the journal, offering news, product information, the LABO Kompass, webinar registrations and the e-paper edition. The site is in German and designed as a working tool for laboratory professionals: the emphasis is on practical information retrieval rather than on general audience engagement. The e-paper platform at epaper.labo.de provides the digital edition of the print journal with interactive features, allowing readers to navigate the full issue on screen and to follow links to products and further resources.

The publisher also distributes LABO content through third-party platforms such as Yumpu, where the journal maintains a presence with selected documents, broadening discoverability beyond the core subscriber base. The digital strategy is consistent with the journal's identity as a practitioner service: the website provides timeliness between print issues, the Kompass offers quick orientation, and the webinars provide interactive learning that complements the written content. Together with the print journal's depth, these channels make LABO a comprehensive information service for the German-speaking laboratory community, continuously published for well over five decades and still evolving with the technologies it covers.