SUP announces first books
We are delighted to announce that the Scottish Universities Press (SUP) will release its first two book titles from October, marking a significant milestone in Scotland’s academic publishing landscape and offering a fresh platform for scholarly voices and innovative research.
SUP is a collaborative initiative supported by a consortium of leading Scottish universities. The Press is committed to advancing open access publishing, making high-quality scholarly research available to a global audience without barriers to knowledge, and increasing the impact of academic work. Nine titles are in the pipeline, and more are expected from the consortium, giving researchers even better opportunities to publish their research.
The first two titles to be released from October 2024 are:
1. Conversations with Tim Ingold: Anthropology, education and life
By Tim Ingold, Robert Gibb, Philip Tonner and Diego Maria Malara
Tim Ingold is one of the leading anthropologists of our time. This comprehensive and relatable introduction to his works is presented as a series of engaging interviews and explores Ingold’s crucial contributions to anthropology and other disciplines. Ingold describes the key influences that have shaped his life and career and addresses criticism that has been levelled at his ideas.
Tim Ingold said: "Academic writers often remain hidden behind their texts, rarely offering a glimpse of the personal struggles that drive their work. When we do catch sight of these moments, we discover that beneath the polished arguments and authoritative claims lies a mind wrestling with doubts, anxieties, and uncertainties—the true sources of creative inspiration. This book has given me the rare opportunity to not only share my own vulnerabilities and insecurities but also to reflect on the process of how my ideas have evolved. For the curious and empathetic reader, I hope it provides valuable insights into the highs and lows of my journey through anthropology."
Ingold’s interviewers explain further: "As colleagues from different Schools within the College of Social Sciences at the University of Glasgow, we share a deep and long-standing interest in Tim’s work and wanted to explore his life and career in greater depth. From the beginning, we were committed to making our conversations with Tim about anthropology, education, and life accessible to as broad an audience as possible and not just to academics. We are thrilled that, with the support of the University of Glasgow Library, the book will be published by Scottish Universities Press in both print and open access formats, allowing readers worldwide to enjoy it freely."
2. Digital Editing and Publishing in the Twenty-First Century
Edited by James O’Sullivan, Michael Pidd, Michael Kurzmeier, Orla Murphy, Bridgette Wessels and Sophie Whittle
This thought-provoking work engages with a range of contemporary and important topics which are often neglected, including queer approaches to editing, accessibility and publishing in the age of artificial intelligence. Digital Editing and Publishing in the Twenty-First Century makes a significant contribution to the reimagining of the collective craft of edition making by offering reflections on the current and future state of the edition and how it is shared in contemporary contexts.
O’Sullivan said: "The C21 Editions project is thrilled to publish with Scottish Universities Press, especially as the University of Glasgow is one of our key partners. More initiatives like SUP are needed—academic publishers committed to offering titles in both print and open access digital formats. While print has a unique aura and material quality that screens cannot replicate, it also ensures long-term preservation—books in libraries endure far longer than files on servers. At the same time, open access digital publications democratise knowledge, making it accessible to everyone. Although offering both print and open access is a challenging model to implement, we believe print and digital should complement each other, rather than be seen as an either/or choice."
The debut titles showcase the breadth and depth of research coming out of Scotland and set the tone for SUP’s commitment to advancing scholarly excellence and accessibility in areas of critical importance to Scotland and the wider world.
Availability
Both books will be freely available to download in both PDF and EPUB format from the SUP website. Print copies will also be available to purchase via leading booksellers. Further information will be available soon.
Library-led approach
An innovative library-led initiative, SUP is organized by SCURL and run collaboratively by member libraries on a not-for-profit basis.
Gillian Daly, executive officer, SCURL, said: “We are thrilled to announce the publication of our first titles under SUP, marking a significant step in our journey to make high-quality academic research freely accessible to everyone. These inaugural works reflect the diverse strengths of Scottish scholarship, and we are proud to support our universities in sharing their knowledge with the world."
Hannah Whaley, chair of the SUP management board added: “It has been a privilege to Chair SUP from proof of concept to the largest library-led publishing collaboration in the UK over the last three years, showing that libraries can work at scale to deliver high-quality publishing. Libraries are committed to helping researchers share their work with wider audiences and a unique SUP ethos has emerged which puts academics at the centre of that publishing process.”
If you would like to find out more, please contact info@sup.ac.uk.