A new university press created by Scottish institutions is offering to publish free-to-read books for about a third of the price charged by commercial publishers.
This month Scottish Universities Press (SUP), which was established last year by 18 academic libraries in Scotland, launched its first open call for book proposals, including edited collections and monographs.
Academics at participating institutions will be able to publish books for a production charge between £3,500 and £5,500, which SUP says is “significantly lower” than the book publishing charges offered by commercial publishers, which can range from £9,000 to £15,000.
The creation of the new university press, which is coordinated by the Scottish Confederation of University and Research Libraries (SCURL), comes ahead of new UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) rules that, from January 2024, will require monographs to be made open access within 12 months of publication if the research is publicly funded.
