From: Charles Watkinson <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thu, 28 Mar 2024 12:03:53 -0400

Colleagues:

Please excuse the cross-posting of this news from the Publishing division
of the University of Michigan Library and Aberdeen University Library. The
link to the original is here: https://www.abdn.ac.uk/news/22982/

Charles


*Aberdeen and Michigan announce trans-Atlantic publishing partnership*

The University of Aberdeen and the University of Michigan have come
together to launch a new trans-Atlantic publishing partnership that will
amplify the reach of Aberdeen’s boundary-breaking research.

Aberdeen University Press (AUP) has over the years published a number of
important works, most notably Nan Shepherd’s The Living Mountain (1977) and
Michael Fry’s Patronage and Principle: A Political History of Modern
Scotland (1987). It now joins a proven and growing network of open access
presses that operate on Michigan’s publishing infrastructure.

The University of Michigan Library’s Publishing division (which includes
the University of Michigan Press) has a rich history of publishing
expertise and continues to lead in the development of digital scholarship
and to support the dissemination of quality knowledge as widely and freely
as possible. Michigan Publishing seeks to engage with practical challenges
such as contract terms, discoverability, and sustainability so that Open
Access works for the benefit of all users from authors, researchers, and
students to readers around the world.

Aberdeen will provide the visioning and editorial leadership, while
Michigan will deliver production and distribution infrastructure.

AUP currently hosts two well-respected journals, has published an array of
open-access books, and is actively working with new authors and editors
under the auspices of its Academic Board. It is committed to being an
entirely open-access, open-source, academy-owned publisher, aligned with
 university press values of research integrity, intellectual freedom,
equity and inclusion, and responsible stewardship.

The Michigan partnership will allow AUP to further expand its reach to
publish researchers whose work advances the interdisciplinary and
multidisciplinary strategic strengths of Aberdeen University, irrespective
of their affiliation.

Professor Nick Forsyth, Vice Principal (Research) at the University of
Aberdeen, said: “A commitment to boundary-breaking defines Aberdeen
University’s strategic future, whether those boundaries be geographical or
disciplinary in nature.”

“In the developing open-access environment, we believe this ocean-spanning
partnership advances our distinctive mission.”

Lisa Carter, Dean of Libraries at the University of Michigan, added: “We
are excited to be working together with Aberdeen to develop, cultivate, and
support new publishing models that maximise access to high-quality
scholarship.”

“In an increasingly networked research environment, it is important for our
mission-aligned organisations to be able to serve authors and readers
internationally.”

The Aberdeen University Press Academic Board welcomes book and journal
proposals from the global research community across all disciplines.

More information is at https://aberdeenunipress.org/
--
Charles Watkinson
Associate University Librarian, Publishing
University of Michigan Library
839 Greene Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48104-3209
(office) 734 936 0452, (mobile) 609 933 2410
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*My pronouns are he / him / his*

*The Bodewadmi, the Odawa, and the Ojibwe collectively named the
Anishinaabe, lived in the lands and the waterways of the Michigami before
the first white settlers arrived here. They continue to live here still,
and the University of Michigan owes its creation to them. University of
Michigan Library is deeply indebted to the Wyandot and Anishinaabe Peoples,
and we still have much work to do in order to honor the intent and spirit
of the treaty upon which we were founded.*