DCU Press: Vision to Reality

The past number of years has seen a growing trend in the establishment of University Presses. This growth in institutional publishing is a direct response to the changing scholarly communication landscape. Drivers include an increased awareness and understanding of the benefits and importance of open access publishing, funder mandates requiring all publicly funded research to be open and freely available to all, as well as concerns for the viability of scholarly monographs and the high cost of journal subscriptions (Lockett & Speicher, 2016).

This presentation will discuss the establishment of DCU Press, Ireland’s first fully open access University Press. The launch of DCU Press was officially announced in July 2018. The Press is a joint initiative between DCU Library and the Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation. It is a key initiative in support of the university’s strategic goal to advance its reputation for world-class research (DCU, 2017). The Press will see the university take on a greater role in the dissemination of its research. It will enhance institutional reputation, brand and prestige by significantly increasing the discoverability and global reach of DCU’s research outputs and further expand its support for the principles of open science.

The specific focus of the presentation will be the establishment and set-up of the Press. Areas discussed will include:

• the rationale and strategic context for the establishment of an OA Press
• the benefits of establishing an OA Press
• advocacy, engagement and support for the Press
• governance, management, quality control (peer review processes)
• business/operational model – staffing, workflows and key partnerships
• current and future plans

References:

Dublin City University (DCU) (2017) Strategic Plan 2017-2022. Available at: https://www.dcu.ie/qpo/Strategic-Plan.shtml (accessed 14th January, 2019)

Lockett, A. and Speicher, L. (2016) New University Presses in the UK: Accessing a mission. Learned Publishing (29), pp. 320-329. doi: 10.1002/leap.1049