Q&A with Professor Rhona Brown

Dr Rhona Brown, Professor in Scottish Literature at the University of Glasgow, has recently taken on the role of Chair of the Scottish Universities Press (SUP) Editorial Board. The Board consists of 14 academic colleagues from across Scottish institutions and has been instrumental in the development of SUP. Rhona succeeds Professor Morris Altman, Dean of the University of Dundee School of Business, who chaired the Board through a very busy start-up period. Dr Jannette Pow, Lecturer within the School of Health and Social Care at Edinburgh Napier University, will take over as Vice Chair.

In this blog post Rhona has very kindly agreed to answer some questions about her role, the importance of open access publishing and her aspirations for SUP and the Editorial Board.

Firstly, please can you tell us a bit about your research and what you have been working on recently?

My research focuses on eighteenth-century Scottish poetry, the early Scottish periodical press and textual editing. Recently, I’ve been deeply engaged in producing textual editions. In 2023, I published a new complete edition of influential eighteenth-century Edinburgh author Allan Ramsay’s (1684-1758) poems, and in 2024, an edition of Ramsay’s prose, co-edited with Craig Lamont. At the moment, I’m completely immersed in the life, works and legacies of another Edinburgh poet, Robert Fergusson (1750-74) via a Leverhulme Trust-funded research project entitled ‘The Complete Works of Robert Fergusson: Reconstructing Textual and Cultural Legacies’. 2024 was the 250th anniversary of Fergusson’s death, so we held several events and collaborations on his legacies – I’m also in the process of preparing a new edition of Fergusson’s complete works, to be published in late 2026.

How did you find out about SUP and what inspired you to apply to join the Editorial Board?

I first heard about SUP on social media and found out more about its aims and objectives via the website. I’ve always felt strongly that scholarly work should be as accessible to as wide an audience as possible, and from this perspective, SUP’s ethos, as well as its not-for-profit status, was attractive to me. I was keen to work on the Editorial Board with academics from a range of institutions and disciplines, and to help establish SUP, which takes a refreshing new approach to academic publishing.

What has been your experience of publishing open access?

I publish my research open access whenever possible, in an effort to engage people who don’t have access to institutional libraries and database subscriptions. A few journals in the field of Literature are entirely open access, and this has given them real reach. Academic writing isn’t just for academics; for me, it’s important to share my work as widely as possible with as many people as possible, and open access allows us to do that.

What do you think about the importance of open access for the humanities, and literature in particular?

The Humanities are going through a difficult period just now, with job losses and redundancies across several institutions. Humanities subjects help us not just to understand our past, but our present too, and they are crucial in any school or university curriculum. The more reliable information that is out there and freely available, the better.

Do you have any thoughts on how we can convince more researchers in the humanities to publish OA books? Are there any concerns or barriers that you are aware of?

I think that most Humanities researchers are on board with the OA agenda, but funding can be a barrier. Some institutions are very good at providing funds for OA publishing, but if OA becomes a central requirement in future REF exercises, those budgets will need to be increased as demand increases. If funding can be secured, an explanation of the benefits of OA publishing would, I’m sure, help researchers to publish in this way. Academics are all well aware of how expensive and unaffordable academic books are; SUP’s not-for-profit approach is appealing in that context too. OA publishing allows accessibility, and that can only be a good thing!

What are your aspirations for SUP as the new Chair of the Editorial Board?

I’m excited to follow Prof Morris Altman as the new Chair of SUP’s Editorial Board. I look forward to collaborating with Editorial Board members old and new, and seeing SUP through a crucial stage. We’ve begun now to publish our first books, and interest from authors so far has been remarkable. I’d love to see SUP expand into different types of publishing in the future, such as textual editions and perhaps even scholarly journals, and I look forward to continuing my collaboration with the excellent and lovely SUP staff.

Can you talk a little about what the Editorial Board will be focusing on in 2025?

In 2025, SUP will continue to expand. Up until now, we have focused on publishing academic monographs and edited collections of scholarly essays from academics working  at member institutions in Scotland. From now on, SUP is accepting proposals from outwith the member consortium, and outwith Scotland. In addition to monographs and collections, SUP will expand into textbook publishing, giving authors and students a new way into teaching texts and materials.

Finally, what have you got planned for 2025?

2025 is a busy one for me, as I continue with the Robert Fergusson project and prepare the new edition of his works.  I’ll also be looking ahead to my next project, on early Scottish newspapers, magazines and journalism. And I’ll be encouraging my fellow Humanities researchers to find out more about SUP and consider publishing with us!

Thank you so much to Rhona for answering our questions!

If you would like to find out more about publishing with SUP then you can visit our website or get in touch.