Collaboration paves a new road towards free scholarly books
A prestigious Society and University Press partner to challenge traditional book publishing
Open Access monographs are revolutionizing the scholarly publishing world: scholarship made freely available for download, with print versions for sale on demand. Now, a new collaboration is offering something more. The University of Calgary Press and the British Society for the Philosophy of Science (BSPS) have partnered under the belief that scholarly ideas should be freely accessible to everyone, and at no cost to scholars themselves. Their new Open Access book series called BSPS Open is an embodiment of this belief.
BSPS Open will publish landmark, cutting edge works that represent the full breadth and diversity of the philosophy of science. Adopting a groundbreaking model that sets a new standard for equality and access, BSPS Open enables free access to scholarly knowledge to anyone with an internet connection. Manuscripts will be selected on the basis of merit, not on the ability of authors to pay Open Access fees.
“As a leader in Open Access publishing, the University of Calgary Press already has a global impact. This new endeavour reinforces the entrepreneurial spirit of our institution and the value we place on partnerships,” explains Ed McCauley, president and vice-chancellor of the University of Calgary. “I commend the University of Calgary Press and the British Society for the Philosophy of Science for their enterprising vision and commitment to the broad dissemination of knowledge.”
“We’re tremendously proud to collaborate with the British Society for the Philosophy of Science and play a role in shaping an innovative new model for Open Access publishing,” adds Mary-Jo Romaniuk, vice-provost for the university’s Libraries and Cultural Resources, which oversees the University of Calgary Press. “It’s exciting to see two leading organizations come together to advance access to scholarly knowledge, particularly this year as the Press celebrates its 10th anniversary as one of Canada’s only Open Access university presses.”
“This is a scholar-led monograph series enabled by an Open Access publisher based at an institution that values the equitable, universal dissemination of the results of scholarship,” notes University of Calgary Press director Brian Scrivener. “The synergy inherent in this relationship eliminates barriers between creators of knowledge and those who can benefit from it. We look forward to replicating this model in other fields of inquiry.”
“Open Access is an important and growing part of the future of academic publishing,” says Alexander Bird, president of the British Society for the Philosophy of Science and Bertrand Russell Professor of Philosophy at Cambridge University. “I am delighted that the British Society for the Philosophy of Science and the University of Calgary Press have pooled resources to form a partnership that will lead the way in the publishing of Open Access monographs. I am confident that this venture will attract innovative work of the highest calibre, which will reach a wide audience among philosophers of science.”
BSPS, which currently edits The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, one of the world’s top journals in philosophy of science, has appointed an editorial board of world-leading scholars in philosophy of science who will solicit, referee, and select manuscripts for publication.
BSPS Open is currently accepting manuscripts for consideration in all areas of the philosophy of science at press.ucaglary.ca/bspsopen. The first free-to-read Open Access books in the series will be published in 2021.