Project: The Organization of Open and Independent Publishing
Coordinators: Stevphen Shukaitis & Steffen Bohm, University of Essex
This research project is designed to investigate the organization and
workings of open and independent publishing initiatives in the UK. Open
publishing is an increasingly recognized and important form of academic
publishing that allows research outputs to be instantly available on the
internet for free. Whereas the majority of academic output (in the form
of research papers) is only accessible via pay-per-view or subscription
based models, it is increasingly recognized that (particularly publicly
funded) research should be available for free to anyone who would like
to access it.
This free-to-view model of academic publishing is also called ‘open
publishing.’ Non-commercial publishers, however, also have to make a
living and support a cost base for their publishing activities. Hence,
many publishers are not able to publish their material completely
free-of-charge. Instead, they sell their material at fairly low prices
that, nevertheless, allows them to sustainably run their non-profit
publishing activities. This is what we call ‘independent,’
non-commercial publishing. In this project we are interested in
investigating how open and independent publishing actually works and how
it is organized. Here we take a media ecology perspective, focusing not
just on the production of the texts themselves but assessing how these
texts fit into a larger constellation of media practices and engagement
with media.
We are looking for someone to take up a temporary research assistant
position for the project. Ideally we are looking for someone who has
knowledge of the publishing industry (which can include distribution,
retail, and the production of online media content) and the politics of
open publishing. The work for this project is of a pilot nature and will
be used for the basis of a larger research project (and associated
funding bid).
Practically the work would involve tasks such as contacting publishers
and media producers, conducting interviews, and transcription of
interviews. There is funding for about 100 hours of work (paid at £14.55
per hour), which can be arranged flexibly over several months, starting
in January 2012
Interested people, who should have some previous research experience,
should send an application letter and their CV to Stevphen
([log in to unmask]) by December 19th, 2011.
About the coordinators: Stevphen and Steffen have both been involved in
the running of independent and open publishing initiatives for the past
decade. Steffen has been involved in founding the journal ephemera:
theory & politics in organization and the book publishing press
MayFlyBooks, and Stevphen has been involved with Autonomedia and Minor
Compositions. We have both rich experiences in running independent and
open publishing houses, and we are all too aware of the difficulties
involved in running such publishing initiatives on a sustainable,
non-profit basis.
Contact: [log in to unmask]
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