Line-up announced for the Research and Scholarly Publishing Forum
The London Book Fair has announced the line-up for this year’s Research and Scholarly Publishing Forum, which will take place on Thursday 7 April. Chaired and curated by Malavika Legge, Publishing Director at the Biochemical Society and Chair of the Society Publishers’ Coalition (SocPC), the Forum will include sessions on innovation in journal publishing, the transition to open books and monographs, perspectives from partners within the scholarly ecosystem, and a review of the challenges facing the sector. Robert Kiley (Head of Strategy for cOAlition S), Dr Frances Pinter, (Executive Chair of the Central European University Press), and Yvonne Campfens (Executive Director at OA Switchboard) will be among the speakers.
New impact campaign from Emerald
Emerald Publishing has relaunched its 2018 Impact Manifesto, asking its fellow publishers, along with funders, policymakers, research users, research and academic institutions, and service providers, to progress beyond what it describes as ‘simplistic and outdated approaches to research impact’. Citing findings from its 2021 Time for Change survey that the past two years have seen a reduced focus on research producing measurable changes in practice, policy or behaviour, and an increased reliance by researchers on citations and Impact Factor as measures of research quality, Emerald is calling for collective action across the research sector in order to break down the barriers that prevent research from having a meaningful impact. A new initiative, titled ‘Are You In?’, encourages members of the wider research community to sign up to six commitments including championing alternatives to traditional academic metrics and awards, developing more equitable and accessible ways to publish research, and finding new formats and channels to disseminate research to a wider audience.
New read-and-publish offering from Bristol
Bristol University Press has launched a new Read and Publish initiative in partnership with Jisc. UK universities will be offered read access to the complete portfolio of seventeen journals published under the Bristol University Press and Policy Press imprints, along with APC-free publication for their researchers in any of the publisher’s subscription or hybrid journals. The agreement will last from 2022 to the end of 2023.
KU announces unlatching of almost 400 titles
Knowledge Unlatched, the open access funding platform acquired last year by Wiley, has announced the results of its 2021 pledging round. Almost 400 books will be published open access via the scheme in 2022, with 227 of the titles coming from the KU Select 2022 Humanities and Social Sciences Books Collection and 160 from KU’s partner collection. A further 51 journals were supported by the KU Subscribe-to-Open partnership. The platform is currently discussing its plans for new collections with partners and expects to share information on these from May.
New supporters for OLH
The Open Library of the Humanities has announced further increased support from university partners for its APC-free publishing model. Iowa State University Library has become the thirteenth higher-tier supporter to join the OLH library board, while five members of Sikt – the Norwegian Agency for Shared Services in Education and Research – have signed a one-year agreement to join the OLH Library Partnership Subsidy model.
OUP to close its bookshop
Oxford University Press has announced that it will not be reopening its bookshop, which has been closed since the first UK lockdown began in March 2020. A new space within Oxford’s Blackwell’s Bookshop on Broad Street will however display a selection of OUP content.
Alastair Horne is a PhD student at the British Library and Bath Spa University.