From: Lorraine Weston <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tue, 20 Jan 2015 16:15:07 -0800

University of California Press Expands into Open Access with
Innovative Journal and Monograph Programs

With Collabra and Luminos, UC Press evolves the OA model to benefit
authors and the entire academic community

January 20, 2015 (Oakland, CA)—UC Press today announces Collabra and Luminos,
two new open access programs for journal and monograph publishing. Aligned with
UC Press’s mission to build reach and impact for transformative scholarship,
the programs expand publishing options for scholarly authors and researchers,
make it easier for readers to find and use content, and share the monetary
value generated from publishing across the academic community. Both Collabra
and Luminos launch with a distinguished group of advisory board members,
editors, authors, and reviewers from universities and associations around the
globe.

“As part of the world’s greatest public research university we knew that we
needed to make a significant investment to meet the changing publishing and
dissemination needs of our audiences,” said Alison Mudditt, Director of UC
Press. “These programs have been shaped by hundreds of conversations with
faculty, librarians, and other key stakeholders. With Luminos, we will combine
the global reach and visibility of OA with our unwavering commitment to
publishing superior scholarship to create a speedboat, not a life raft, that
will carry monographs forward and allow them to remain a vital resource.”

The mega journal Collabra is based on an innovative model designed to share
value generated from publishing an article among editors and reviewers who
contribute to its success. Instead of retaining all funds generated from author
article processing charges (APCs), UC Press directly compensates reviewers and
editors for their work on the journal; reviewers and editors can then opt to
pass these earnings on to an APC waiver fund that benefits other authors or to
their institution’s open access fund.

“The scholarly record has to be open in order to make research as accessible
as possible,” says Maryann Martone, Professor-in-Residence, Department of
Neuroscience at the University of California, San Diego. “I joined Collabra
because I like that it cedes control and a sense of ownership to the scholars,
by charging the minimum costs the process requires rather than the maximum that
our budgets will tolerate.”

At launch, Collabra will focus on three broad disciplinary areas: life and
biomedical sciences, ecology and environmental science, and social and
behavioral sciences. UC Press is lining up an international team of field
experts for the editorial board, including, among others, Erica Fleishman,
Research Scientist, Department of Environmental Science and Policy and John
Muir Institute of the Environment, University of California, Davis; Maryann
Martone, who is also Co-Director, National Center for Microscopy and Imaging
Research (NCMIR) and Executive Director of FORCE11; and Rolf A. Zwaan,
Professor, Department of Psychology, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, the
Netherlands.

With Luminos, UC Press is taking steps to ensure the longevity of monographic
publishing while adhering to the same exacting editorial standards for which it
has been known for more than 120 years. This entails combining the best of OA
and digital publishing with UC Press’s rigorous selection and editorial
processes to create a wholly new approach to sustainable and affordable
monograph publishing.

For authors whose traditional monographs have been relegated to sales of just a
few hundred, an open access model offers the potential to exponentially
increase the discoverability and readership of their work. UC Press’s model
also supports rich multimedia content—essential in order to keep pace with
new digital modes of scholarship.

Luminos shares the cost burden of publishing in manageable amounts across the
academic community. For each title, UC Press makes a significant contribution,
augmented by membership funds from supporting libraries. Authors will then be
asked to secure a title publication fee to cover the remaining costs.
Additional revenue from supporting libraries and print sales will help to
support an author waiver fund.

“Luminos promises to bring together the most important benefits of digital
publishing platforms—including the greatly increased discoverability and
reach of open access and the innovative structures of multimodal
scholarship—with the long-standing commitment to quality of the University of
California Press,” says Kathleen Fitzpatrick, Director of Scholarly
Communication of the Modern Language Association and Visiting Research
Professor of English, New York University. “The combination presents
extraordinary possibilities for publicly engaged, dynamic scholarly work.”

To ensure the program continues to evolve as OA and the needs of the scholarly
community change, UC Press has established an advisory board that represents
the interests of many monograph audiences. These include:

o       Wendy Chun, Brown University
o       Kathleen Fitzpatrick, Modern Language Association and New York
University
o       Faye Ginsburg, New York University
o       David Theo Goldberg, University of California, Irvine
o       Christopher M. Kelty, University of California, Los Angeles
o       Todd Presner, University of California, Los Angeles
o       MacKenzie Smith, University of California, Davis

University of California Press is one of the most forward-thinking scholarly
publishers in the nation. For more than 120 years, it has championed work that
influences public discourse and challenges the status quo in multiple fields of
study. At a time of dramatic change for publishing and scholarship, UC Press
collaborates with scholars, librarians, authors, and students to stay ahead of
today’s knowledge demands and shape the future of publishing. www.ucpress.edu

For more information on Collabra, visit the website and watch the video at
http://www.collabraoa.org/. For information on Luminos, visit the website and
watch the video at http://www.luminosoa.org/. For more information on both
programs, contact Lorraine Weston at:  [log in to unmask]

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