Publishing Prize supporting information

This prize is for those who are interested in the advantages that publishing an open access (OA) monograph could give in terms of career progress.  If you are committed to maximum dissemination of your research to the widest possible audience but have no funding to support publication, do consider applying.

OA brings research to the widest possible audience. WRUP’s OA publications offer immediate access to the digital formats without financial barrier, and high quality print copies available at cost to those who choose to buy the physical volume. There is a growing commitment to OA monograph publication by funders and for the next REF.

It is important to understand the two elements of the prize. The first part sees the selection of the final list of prize winning proposals. The second sees these proposals taken through the WRUP peer review and commissioning process, with the hope that this will result in publication of the monographs proposed.

The two parts of the prize are linked and the submission of a proposal is a commitment to follow the process through to publication, if you are selected as a prize winner. This means that you need to be able to commit to doing the work required to write a monograph based on your doctoral research. This will be a very different type of output than your thesis as the purpose and audience are very different.

Authors who submit are committing to work with WRUP as a publisher. While the University of Leeds completely understands an academic’s right to publish where they choose, WRUP’s relationship with Leeds means they are confident in the quality of both the publication process and output, and in the cost-effective model used. This maximises the number of prize winners we can support through to publication. WRUP’s open access model also connects with the institutions’ commitment to supporting the wider open scholarship agenda. 

Authors will need to engage with the WRUP peer review and editorial process, as this feedback will ensure the manuscript can deliver its maximum potential. They will also not submit a book proposal based on the same doctoral research to, or discuss potential publication of the research with, other publishers until the shortlist of prize winners is finalised. The prize winners will be committed to publishing their proposal with WRUP if commissioned.

Entering the prize commits you to engage with all these elements. If you are not comfortable with any of the elements of the prize, please discuss your concerns or ask any questions before submitting by emailing ecpublishingprize@leeds.ac.uk.

What work will I need to do? 

Authors need to be aware that they will be writing a monograph based on their doctoral research and not submitting their thesis for publication. While some elements of the thesis may be suitable to be worked into sections of the monograph, it should be expected that a significant amount of work will be needed to present the research as a monograph that will engage a wider audience. This will usually need a different tone, structure, and focus than a thesis, which is written for the specific purpose of academic assessment, and for a very narrow and defined audience.

There is a good deal of information available on what is required to write a monograph based on doctoral research, and we recommend that you explore this information to make sure you understand what is involved. Thinking about this and capturing it in your proposal is a key element of the submission. It is important you feel able to undertake the work needed and that you will not place undue pressure on yourself given your other workload or commitments.

Incorporating relevant feedback from peer reviewers and the WRUP Editorial Board will also be important to the success of the project, and you will probably want to discuss this with your academic mentor. This will also take time, which will differ depending on the scope of the feedback.

You will need to be involved in the stages of the production process; signing off the work of the copyeditor, indexer and typesetters. WRUP will be able to work with you to create a schedule that works around your other commitments.

There will be practical considerations too. If you intend to include third party-owned content in your book, WRUP can help you make sure you have the right permissions to use this content. This will differ from those you needed for third party-owned content in your thesis.

This will be a significant amount of work, but it will be spread over different phases of the publication process, and WRUP will work with you to ensure the timescales are realistic and schedules are built around your commitments.