5 Minutes with University of Warwick Press

5 Minutes with University of Warwick Press

We spent five minutes with Gareth J Johnson, Press Manager at University of Warwick Press!

Tell us about your press/service/platform 
University of Warwick Press has ‘technically’ been around since the mid-60s, but in our current incarnation as an online, diamond, new university press we’re more of a new kid on the block. We have a modest collection of books, alongside a surprisingly healthy community of academic journals – all grown somewhat organically. That said, currently, after many years as a largely Library-facilitated publishing endeavour, during the current academic year we’re undergoing a period of intensive strategic review. Led by yours truly, this review project is seeking routes to reconfigure, revitalize and renew the Press into a more strategically minded, procedurally sound, quality assured and hopefully a sustainable, growing open-access publishing house. Wish me luck!

What challenges have you had to overcome in setting up the press/service/platform?
For me, it’s not as much the setting up but the restructuring, professionalising and improving the Press which is paramount. If I were to take a longer-term view, beyond any technological, procedural or policy dimension the biggest single challenge is simply visibility. Speaking, as I have to academics and professional colleagues across the university over the past year, the dearth of awareness about our press has started me thinking that we’re the ‘best kept secret on campus’. Certainly, there’s a long way to go and a lot of effort ahead needed to get us more noticed, let alone embraced or championed in the way a university press should be. Given we’ve not been doing much in the way of active outreach until recently – this is perhaps unsurprising. And if people don’t know about us, they’re not going to consider publishing with us, no matter how sophisticated our offerings. Hence, this is a square I’m actively trying to circle.

What has been the response from academics at your institution and beyond?
I can confidently say, given my own heritage from running one of Press’ top research journals, that those who’ve published with us are extremely pleased and on occasion delighted by the experience. Meanwhile from my current stakeholder conversations– described by at least one colleague as my ‘missionary work’ – while Press awareness might be low, once people are aware there’s a gratifyingly high level of positivity. Not everyone, but then you can’t be all things to all people, I’m pragmatic about that aspect. Nevertheless, I’m hoping to work with and build upon these pockets enthusiastic ‘potential champions’ as our reinvention progresses. My hope is through increasing our visibility, and building from our firm foundations, our cachet can only grow with contributors and readers both here in Warwickshire and beyond.

What is your proudest achievement so far?
Personally speaking, it’s each time I uncover another individual keen to engage with our Press while sharing their ideas and insights into scholarly dissemination practices alongside revealing opportunities we could explore within our future publication plans. It’s happened far more than I initially thought it might, which is extremely gratifying. However, for the Press itself I think it’s the growing community of shared practice and experience I’ve witnessed between our journal chief editors. These are a wonderful and diverse group of people and publications, and while there’s always room for growth, they offer us a firm foundation to build upon. As many of them have been publishing with us for years now they also represent an invaluable practical resource for any new journal editors we have coming onboard

Can you share your future publishing plans?
With the current strategic review in progress that’s more of an open question than I’d perhaps prefer. Certainly, I know quite a few of our journals have new issues coming out over the coming months. Technically we’re in a period of moratorium this academic session for other works, but behind the scenes I’ve been having more than a few productive conversations with would be future authors – so I’m hopeful in time you’ll be seeing some interesting volumes alongside the current periodicals and books. Presently I can’t say anything more, except to note that I’m super-excited if they all do come to fruition.

Why does open institutional publishing matter?
From my perspective it matters because it is a way to get ‘skin in the game’ for an institution in the publishing landscape, to make efforts towards a reclamation of agency and influence over a commercially dominated hegemony. I also believe it’s about demonstrating that if we’re serious about being institutions of scholarship, of learning, of excellence and knowledge creation, then we can’t simply be passive users of the services of others. If nothing else, it’s about trying to rebalance the scales of research dissemination and knowledge advancement which have tipped far too far to the side laden with ‘filthy lucre’ and away from a Mertonian university ideal. Sorry, ended up on my soapbox there!

Why did you join OIPA?
That’s easy – to draw on the practical experience and insights of those who’ve been in the university press game a lot longer than myself. <laughs> True, membership does add a little bit of esteem capital to our press too, but certainly for now it’s all about learning and expanding our local knowledge base. Not to mention being occasionally a little awed by what other presses have managed to achieve too.

What do you think the open institutional sector needs to develop further?
Practically, I think it’s exciting to see so many presses trying lots of different things – so we’re lucky that it’s such a rich, heterodox field right now. If you can think of something ‘new’ chances are someone’s already trialling it. That said, I’d love there to be more layperson guides to platforms, software and hosting options. A lot of the material along these lines is written by, arguably knowledgeable techies, but are crafted in ways which are less parsable to non-technical specialists. Trying to get my head around the ‘how’ in considering some of these potential options could be deployed in a way I can not only comprehend but can explain to others seems a tad rarefied right now. Or perhaps I’ve not stumbled across the right resource yet.

What is the future of the open institutional publishing sector in your view?
It’s hard to say, especially set against the higher education sector’s financial and societal challenges right now. I suspect these tensions could serve to push more newer presses towards a collaborative or consortial approach. In of itself this is no bad thing – if nothing else spreading the financial load and broadening their ‘native’ contributor catchment area can only be to the benefit of their sustained growth. But maybe this is naive, and we’re instead about to move to a phase of fierce competition rather than collaboration in an increasingly rarefied landscape as publishing scholar numbers diminish and the need to demonstrate ROI to our institutions rockets. I hope not, and I’d love to bend closer to my idealist desires, but there’s no denying that it’s an incredibly challenging time to be setting up a new – or in our case reinvigorated – press, no matter how you slice it.

Where can we find out more about your press/service/platform?
Beyond asking me – and I will talk for England about our Press and its potential – you can find out about our journals here or our book collection here. There’s also some more about the strategic review project on the latter site too.