Scottish Universities Press Issues First Call for Proposals
The Scottish Universities Press (SUP) launched its first call for monograph proposals on Friday 11 November 2022.
This initial call aims to attract monographs for publication in 2023/24 and is open to academics at participating institutions who have completed, or nearly completed, manuscripts which are not under contract elsewhere.
Proposals should be submitted using the proposal form on the SUP website by Wednesday 18 January 2023. Decisions will be communicated to authors by the end of March 2023 and manuscripts should be delivered within two months of acceptance being confirmed.
All proposals will go through a full peer review process which will be managed by the SUP Editorial Board, comprising 14 academics from participating institutions and two external representatives.
An ongoing call will be issued in early February 2023 inviting proposals for monographs regardless of what stage the manuscript is at. This will be open to academics at participating institutions and will also focus on monographs. SUP plans to expand to other content types in future.
A dedicated early career researcher (ECR) strand is also being developed and is expected to launch in February alongside the ongoing call.
Costs
SUP is supported by subscriptions and in-kind contributions from the member institutions which allows the Press to deliver a cost-effective solution.
A per-book production charge will be applied to cover the cost of creating the monograph. The production charge rates are set significantly lower than traditional Book Processing Charges (BPCs), ranging from £3,500 to £5,500 (including VAT) depending on the length and complexity of the book. Please see the SUP website for further details.
Publishing with SUP
Open access publishing extends the reach of research, making it freely available to a global audience without restrictions or paywalls. Authors retain the copyright, and the book is made available through a Creative Commons License. Print copies will also be made available to purchase.
SUP is owned and managed by the participating institutions and will operate on a not-for-profit basis, investing any surpluses back into the Press. The SUP model has been developed through consultation with the academic community in Scotland and with reference to best practices and emerging research in open access publishing.
Authors can expect a full-service publishing experience with open communication and transparent processes from peer review through to promotion. SUP is community-led and aims to be responsive to the needs of the academic community in Scotland that it serves.
SCURL Executive Officer and SUP Project Manager, Gillian Daly, said: “On a practical level, SUP offers researchers a clear option for meeting funder requirements in relation to open access. Publishing options can be both complex and costly, but the SUP model offers researchers something different.
“SUP’s community-led approach enables us to benefit from the skills and expertise of staff across institutions, and our not-for-profit status provides the freedom to explore new operating models that align with researchers’ needs.”
Q&A Session
An online Q&A session will take place 10.30-11.30am on Wednesday 16 November. The session offers potential authors the opportunity to raise any queries with a panel comprising Professor Morris Altman, Acting Chair of the Editorial Board, Gillian Daly, SUP Manager and SCURL Executive Officer, Professor David Lavallee, Acting Vice Chair of the Editorial Board, and Hannah Whaley, Chair of the SUP Management Board. The panel will be chaired by Dominique Walker, SUP Publishing Officer.
All other enquiries can be directed via the Contact Form on the SUP website.