Best Practices for Peer Review of Scholarly Books

The second edition of the AUPresses Handbook for peer review of scholarly books was published online in September 2022. This deposit is an accessible PDF of the 2022 edition prepared in spring 2023; the most current version of the handbook is always available at https://peerreview.up.hcommons.org. Demonstration of the highest standards of editorial rigor and peer review in scholarly publication programs is fundamental to publisher membership in AUPresses. The Best Practices Handbook is a resource for member publishers, as well as for individual acquisitions editors, faculty editorial boards, scholarly authors and researchers, and new university-based publishing programs—and reflects the deep experience and broad knowledge of the AUPresses acquisitions editorial community

The Cost to Publish TOME Monographs: A Preliminary Report

A study of the costs incurred by university presses in publishing scholarly monographs through the TOME (Toward an Open Monograph Ecosystem) pilot project. Researchers received data from 15 publishers on 57 TOME titles published through mid-2021. This report will be incorporated into a full assessment of the TOME pilot

Library Publishing Curriculum Textbook

In the original, modular curriculum (2018) on which this textbook is based, each unit of the Library Publishing Curriculum contained an instructor’s guide, narrative, a slideshow with talking notes, bibliographies, supplemental material, and activities for use in a physical or virtual classroom for workshops and courses. This textbook version, produced in 2021, adapts the original narrative as the primary content (with very little additional editing) and incorporates the bibliographies, appendices, and images from the slideshow into a linear reading and learning experience for use by librarians or students learning on their own or as part of a classroom learning experience. The LPC hopes others use and extend this CC-BY version into even more learning opportunities to help create a more equitable publishing ecosystem

Data: Print Revenue and Open Access Monographs

Anonymized data set for "Print Revenue and Open Access Monographs: A University Press Study," containing data on 976 OA books. This study was undertaken over 2022-2023 by AUPresses and Ithaka S+R, supported by a generous grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The full report and additional information can be found via https://aupresses.org/resources/oa-impact-on-print-book-sales/

Library Publishing Curriculum Content Module: Journal Publishing (Unit 4), Instructor\u27s Guide

On the surface, launching a journal may appear to be one of the simplest, most straightforward means of starting a library publishing program, especially if a professor or group of students comes to you with a pre-formed idea. But even such service-oriented projects can be deceptively complex. Are the editor’s needs and expectations aligned with the your resources and capacity? What roles and skills do you need to successfully support a journal? How will you promote the journal to potential authors and readers? In this unit, you’ll learn the fundamentals of launching and maintaining a journal publishing program in a library, including common motivations, service models, policies, and marketing strategies that support successful journals

Library Publishing Curriculum Content Module: Editorial Strategy (Unit 1), Instructor\u27s Guide

As a library publisher, will you act as a service provider for your home institution, an editorially driven publisher of scholarly content, or both? After you’ve decided on the approach you want to take, it’s time to select an approach to publishing and craft your vision, mission, and goals. Building and growing a publishing program requires active engagement with the university and scholarly communities. A needs assessment will help you identify areas where your program can focus. Should you target specific areas, perhaps aligned with the strengths or strategic interests of your institution? As word of your program gets out and you’re approached with possible projects, when and how do you say “no”? This unit will give you the tools you need to take a strategic approach to defining and selecting the content your program will publish

Library Publishing Curriculum Content Module: Long-Form Content (Unit 3), Instructor\u27s Guide

Long the primary role of university presses, faculty’s long-form scholarship is now being created and disseminated with the help of many types of publishers. Whether it’s an edited volume, a symposium collection, conference proceedings, or a single-authoredwork, most successful long-form scholarly texts are organized around an expected set of elements. Understanding the need for and purpose of each of these elements ensures that the publisher can help an author create an effective work and the reader can navigate the materials successfully. Additional common goals for long-form programs include working with an author to write a well-structured publication containing a coherent scholarly argument, and identifying and soliciting appropriate peer reviewers. If your program is not structured to provide that level of editorial intervention, there are still aspects of traditional long-form publication that apply

Library Publishing Curriculum Content Module: ReadMe (Overview)

The Content Module contains six units: 1) Editorial Strategies, 2) Nuts and Bolts, 3) Publishing Long-Form Scholarship, 4) Supporting a Journals Program, 5) Developing Materials for Coursework, and 6) Working with Multi-Modal Content. Within each unit, you will find the following files: a bibliography, an instructor’s guide, a narrative, a slide deck, and supplementary activities and exercises. Start with the instructor’s guide to gain a “big-picture” sense of the topics covered, then read the narrative for an overview of the content covered in the unit. The files provide everything an instructor needs to teach the unit. These units can each stand alone or be conjoined with other units for a deeper dive into this topi