SUP Opening for Monograph Proposals
The Scottish Universities Press (SUP) is excited to announce the timeline for accepting monograph proposals from academics at our member institutions.
Scope
SUP is a fully open access and not-for-profit publishing press owned and managed by 18 Scottish academic libraries. During the initial two-year start-up period (2022-2024) the SUP will:
Publish monographs by academics based at participating institutions.
Cover all subject areas that receive submissions.
Publish fully open access monographs online with CC-BY licences and provide the option to buy print copies.
Ensure quality through a rigorous peer review process managed by the SUP Editorial Board.
Provide a full publishing service, including copy-editing, design and typesetting, marketing, global dissemination and digital preservation.
Timeline for accepting monograph proposals
SUP will offer four streams for new title submissions:
1. A time-limited call for proposals based on monographs nearing completion
2. Launch of an ongoing proposal submission cycle
3. Targeted strand for Early Career Researchers (ECRs)
4. Ongoing commissioning by the SUP Editorial Board
1. Time-limited call for monographs nearing completion
An initial call will be issued in the week commencing Monday 7th November inviting proposals from academics at member institutions who have completed, or nearly completed, manuscripts which are not under contract elsewhere. The closing date for proposals will be Wednesday 18th January 2023 with the aim to communicate decisions to authors by 31st March 2023, recognising that this will be dependent on the completion of the peer review cycle. In this stream there will be an expectation that manuscripts will be delivered within two months of acceptance being confirmed.
2. Launch of ongoing call for content
An open call will be issued on 1st February 2023 inviting monograph proposals from researchers at member institutions, regardless of which stage the manuscript is at. These proposals will go through the agreed peer review process and will be reviewed by the Editorial Board three times a year.
3. Early Career Researchers (ECRs)
The SUP aims to provide targeted support for ECRs with little or no publishing experience. An ongoing call will be issued at the same time and in the same way as the open call for proposals on 1st February 2023. Proposals will be via the same submission form and go through the agreed peer review process but will be reviewed by a dedicated sub-group. We are currently developing this stream together with the ECR members of the Editorial Board.
4. Commissioning
The Editorial Board will be asked to seek submissions from suitable authors via their home institutions and wider professional networks. Commissioned authors will be expected to complete the monograph proposal form which will then be reviewed by the Editorial Board and be subject to the same peer review process as the other calls for content.
Submissions Process
A standard proposal form will be hosted on the SUP website. When a proposal is received it will be reviewed by SUP staff to ensure that it is in scope for publication. Proposals will go through a rigorous external peer review process and will be reviewed by the Editorial Board three times a year. If accepted a contract will be agreed with the author. Once the full manuscript is submitted it will be sent out to a reviewer for a final report. Manuscripts will then progress through the production workflow. Monographs will be published fully OA on the SUP Platform with a print option available to purchase.
Next Steps
Guidelines, the peer review policy and the monograph proposal form will be made available on the SUP website in early November.
We will also host a Q&A webinar for academics at member libraries in November. The date and time will be confirmed soon and advertised on the SUP website.
Please contact us in the meantime with any questions or take a look at the FAQs.