1. The UK’s first fully open access university press
UCL PRESS
The UK’s first fully open access university press
Jaimee Biggins, Managing Editor –

2. UCL Press: Why it was set up?
‘Scholarly outputs are typically subjected to a publications process that limits their widespread dissemination. UCL is committed to being a force for good and enlightenment in the world. This includes ensuring that the products of its research are made as widely available as possible.’
Professor David Price, Vice Provost (Research), UCL

3. Publishing activity to date
Books
Journals
Student Journals
Megajournal
Launched in June 2015
More than 100 books published in total since then
8 journals and first Megajournal
We publish c.35 books a year, and will increase to 50 books in 2019/20

4. Governance and funding
Books by UCL authors are funded by UCL
Non-UCL authors pay a Book Processing Charge starting at £5000, to cover peer review, editing, typesetting, proofreading, indexing
UCL Press is subsidised by UCL to a large degree
Income: from print sales, BPCs, Knowledge Unlatched, publishing services and consultancy
Governance
UCL Press Board (advisory), UCL Press Executive (proposals and peer review)
All books are peer reviewed

5. Business model
Our goal is wide dissemination of its books and journals via open access.
The commercial model for publishing scholarly monographs does not deliver dissemination – typically copies of monographs sold globally, mainly to institutional libraries at high retail prices.
Via open access, books are accessed by thousands of people, and can be read by people all over the world, regardless of their ability to pay or their university affiliation.
This reflects UCL’s global strategy, to share knowledge widely in order to address global challenges.

6. Authors We publish both UCL and non-UCL authors
Academics from UCL are free to publish where they want
Non-UCL authors pay a BPC

7. Commissioning Editor x 2 Marketing & Sales Coordinator
Staff
Director of Services
UCL Library Services
Head of Publishing
Production Manager
Editorial Director
Commissioning Editor x 2
(1.8 FTE)
Publishing Assistant
(0.6 FTE)
Marketing Manager
Sales
Manager
(0.8 FTE)
Marketing & Sales Coordinator
Managing Editor
Journals Manager
All staff from a publishing background

8. Publishing formats Open Access PDF
Distributed via a variety of platforms
Epub/Mobi
Sold through retail channels
Print
Sold in paperback and hardback through retail channels in the UK and North America, with worldwide availability
HTML
Online enhanced editions
Journals Academic journals, megajournal, student journal – all open access, online only

9. Our books can be downloaded from:
2.189 million downloads
since June 2015
*Correct to April 2019, Figure for books and journals.

10. Most accessed titles June 2015 to April 2019
Rank
Title
Accesses 1
How the World Changed Social Media
330,825 2
Social Media in Industrial China
97,936 3
Social Media in an English Village
75,549 4
Brexit and Beyond
73,113 5
A Conversation about Healthy Eating
63,609 6
Textbook of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
62,994 7
Social Theory after the Internet
54,099 8
The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology
47,134 9
Fabricate
45,499 10
Conservation of Natural and Cultural Heritage in Kenya
40,871

11. Book accesses by platform June 2015 to April 2019

12. Global reach - top countries June 2015 to April 2019

13. Print sales by Region (units) June 2015 to April 2019

14. Author feedback

15. Key subject areas: Anthropology Archaeology
Architecture & Built Environment
History
Sustainability

16. UCL Press and textbooks: why?
Size of market
Scale of student purchasing of print textbooks in UK higher education is estimated at some £200m annually
Lack of favourable licensing models for libraries offered by publishers
UCL strategic commitments to a culture of research-based learning, world-class digital learning environment and global engagement (2034 strategy)
Licensing models – higher charges, limited access
2034 UCL strategy - students

17. Jisc Institution as E-textbook Publisher
Four HEIs created two textbooks produced by each: UCL, Nottingham, Liverpool, University of the Highlands and Islands
Grant of £75,000 each
Experimental: any model, any technology
Aim: to understand how institutions can publish e-textbooks on a larger scale
UCL Press published:
Textbook of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
Key Concepts in Public Archaeology

18. Textbooks 62,994 August 2016- March 2019 27,837
September March 2019

19. Published and forthcoming textbooks
Title
Author/Editor
Pub Date
Textbook of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
Peter Butler, Deepak Kalaskar, Shadi Gali
August 2016
Key Concepts in Public Archaeology
Gabriel Moshenska
March-September 2016
Fundamentals of Galaxy Formation, Evolution and Dynamics
Ignacio Ferreras
April 2019
Case Studies in Perioperative Medicine
David Walker et al
October 2019
Introduction to Nordic Cultures
Annika Lindskog, Jacob Stougard Nielsen
January 2020
Introduction to Applied Statistics
Tom Fearn, Simon Harden, Elinor Jones
October 2020
Science, Policy and Politics
Jack Stilgoe, Brian Balmer
Object Based Learning
Thomas Kador and Helen Chaterjee
Audio Visual Translation
Soledad Zarate
May 2021

20. Journals and Megajournal

21. Megajournal
Recently launched January 2019, UCL Press have developed a new open and transparent scholarly publication model, titled as UCL Open
Scope: Publishing high-quality inter- and multi-disciplinary content, aimed at showcasing radical and critical thinking to real world problems with the aim of benefitting humanity, from across a broad thematic interest
UCL Open is divided into subject strands. 
UCL Open: Environment is the first strand which focuses on environment-related research and covers contributions from life and earth sciences, as well as medical, physical, population, engineering, and social sciences.

22. Now open for submissions!
First posted to the preprint server to undergo open peer review
If editorially accepted, officially published in the UCL Open: Environment e-journal
The megajournal is open for submissions from anyone globally
Operates dually as an open access e-journal where editorially accepted articles are officially published after open and signed peer review in a dedicated preprint server.
By utilising a preprint server we are here able to offer immediate publication and also provide an end to end accessible, transparent and accountable publishing process.
Open peer review
Further information at ucl-about.scienceopen.com

23. Article-processing charges
UCL Open: Environment levies an Article-Processing Charge (APC) to all non-UCL authors once the article has been editorially accepted.
Word count, up to:
APC
1,000
£125
2,500
£300
5,000
£500
10,000
£650
Find out more
ucl-about.scienceopen.com

24. Student journals

25. Digital platform – html enhanced versions
Browser-based Open Access digital platform: ucldigitalpress.co.uk which hosts:
1: Enhanced digital editions
2: Scholarly monographs
3: Books as Open Online Content (BOOC)

26. Marketing activity Marketing activities include:
Social media and online presence
Metadata and Onix feeds to sales agents, distribution partners and trade customers
Sales via agents, distributors and trade booksellers
UCL Press catalogue
Website

27. Marketing activity continued…
Public relations and book reviews
Conference attendance
Book launch events
and direct mail campaigns
Directory and index listings (e.g. the Directory of open access books)
Distribution to Open Access platforms
Collaborating with authors to effectively promote their work.
…and more!

28. Publishing services and consultancy
First publishing services partnership signed with DCU Press (Dublin City University) in 2018.
Consultancy – advising other institutions on how to set up their own open access university press.
Publishing services – providing publishing platform, set-up support, production services and distribution.
The partner institution publishes books and journals in its own imprint, and is responsible for commissioning and peer reviewing its own content.

29. Thank you!
Jaimee Biggins, Managing Editor –