UCL Press. The UK's first fully open access university press Lara Speicher (University College London Press) 4.10.2022 r - webinarium Platformy Otwartej Nauki organizowane we współpracy z Komisją ds. Wydawnictw Naukowych przy KRASP. More information: http://pon.edu.pl/aktualnosci/219-webinarium-na-temat-modeli-biznesowym-publikowania-otwartych-monografii

1. UCL PRESS
The UK’s first fully open access
university press

2. UCL PRESS
UCL Press: Why?
‘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, former Vice Provost (Research), UCL
• Research monographs typically sell around 200 copies globally in their lifetime
• Annual academic book sales in the UK average around 60 per title
• The prevailing model of academic publishing does not deliver effective dissemination

3. UCL PRESS
Benefits of an Open Access University Press
• Traditional publishing models do not reach the full
potential audience, whereas Open Access books are
typically downloaded in their thousands
• Taking publishing back into the university: the university
supports the entire research lifecycle
• Creation of OA opportunities for AHSS scholars
• Social impact: making your research available to policy-
makers, the public, citizen scientists
• Global impact: OA outputs reach regions in which
research is unavailable or unaffordable

4. UCL PRESS
What UCL Press publishes
Outputs
• Scholarly monographs
• Edited collections
• Short monographs
• Textbooks
• Journals
• Multidisciplinary journal
Formats
Books:
• PDF – free Open Access for every title
• Print – on demand - £20-£25 to purchase
paperback, hardbacks also available
• E-books – 99p to purchase
Journals:
• All articles are free, Open Access
• All available in HTML, PDF and XML
All UCL Press books and journal articles are peer-reviewed

5. UCL PRESS
Publishing activity to date
Launched in June 2015
30 books per year in 2018/19
Increased to 50 per year in 2020/22
245 books
published
14 Journals Multidisciplinary
journal

6. UCL PRESS
Academic Journals
• Eight academic journals in AHSS and Laws
• Six academic journals on education research
• All hosted on ScienceOpen and peer review is
managed on the JAMS (provided by MDPI)
submission system.
• UCL Editors-in-Chief
• No APCs for any author at present
• Some published as annual or bi-annual issues
• Some publish articles on a rolling basis
• Some launched from scratch with UCL Press
• Others transferred to UCL Press from other
arrangements

7. UCL PRESS
Author charges
• The standard UCL Press Book Processing Charge (BPC) is £5,000
• This covers peer review, editing, typesetting, proofreading, indexing
• No charge when there is a UCL author, editor or series editor
• Waiver scheme for up to 5 non-UCL books per year
• No APCs for academic journals
• Modest APC for UCL Open: Environment
• Book author / editor profile to date – including all co-authors, joint
editors - is roughly 50% UCL, 50% non-UCL.
• For single-author monographs/general editors it is c.75% UCL, 25%
non-UCL.

8. UCL PRESS
Download UCL Press books from: Buy UCL Press books
and e-books from:
• Amazon
• Online retailers
• Bricks and mortar booksellers
• Wholesalers
• Library suppliers
In North America, our books are
distributed by The University of
Chicago Press
Download journals from:

9. UCL PRESS
Marketing activity • Social media
• Website
• Book reviews
• Conferences
• Book launches
• Email campaigns
• Directory and index listings (e.g.
the Directory of open access books)
• Distribution to open access platforms
• Collaborating with authors to promote
their work
…and more!

10. UCL PRESS
UCL Press Impact
• Downloads
• Sales
• Reactions to UCL Press

11. UCL PRESS
6,134,223 million downloads
247 countries and territories reached
June 2015 – May 2022 (inclusive)

12. UCL PRESS
Global reach – top 15 countries
June 2015 to May 2022
0 200,000 400,000 600,000 800,000 1,000,000 1,200,000 1,400,000 1,600,000
United States
United Kingdom
India
Canada
Germany
China
Australia
Philippines
Netherlands
Italy
France
Indonesia
South Africa
Turkey
Brazil

13. UCL PRESS
Most downloaded titles
* correct to April 30th 2022
Pub: 29 Jan 2018
Downloads:169,384
Sales: 504
Countries: 193
Pub: 29 Feb 2016
Downloads: 661,171
Sales: 778
Countries: 229
Pub: 13 Sept 2016
Downloads: 166,795
Sales: 145
Countries: 200
Pub: 5 Jan 2018
Downloads: 194,832
Sales: 507
Countries: 214
Pub: 29 Feb 2016
Downloads:135,555
Sales: 298
Countries: 189

14. UCL PRESS
Even specialist titles can reach a considerable
audience…
Pub: 06 Oct 2016
Downloads: 15,927
Sales: 92
Countries/Terr: 129
Pub: 26 Nov 2018
Downloads: 25,928
Sales: 69
Countries/Terr: 141
Pub: 14 Nov 2016
Downloads: 14,117
Sales: 133
Countries/Terr: 151
Pub: 17 Sept 2018
Downloads: 15,843
Sales: 135
Countries/Terr: 143
Pub: 01 Nov 2015
Downloads: 12,942
Sales: 46
Countries/Terr: 174
Pub: 20 Jun 2018
Downloads: 20,615
Sales: 130
Countries/Terr: 145

15. UCL PRESS
Book downloads by platform
Downloads by platform, to 30 May 2022
3,245,213
1,150,392
1,062,786
1,044,467
373,642
127,477
105,428
69,285
0 500,000 1,000,000 1,500,000 2,000,000 2,500,000 3,000,000 3,500,000
JSTOR
Google Books
Discovery Monthly Download
UCL Discovery
OAPEN
UCL Press HTML ebooks
WorldReader
Internet Archive

16. UCL PRESS
Open Access and book sales…

17. UCL PRESS
Most downloaded titles
Pub: 29 Feb 2016
Downloads: 661,171
Countries: 229
Pub: 13 Sept 2016
Downloads: 166,795
Countries: 200
Pub: 29 Feb 2016
Downloads:135,555
Countries: 189
Pub: 5 Jan 2018
Downloads: 194,832
Countries: 214
Pub: 29 Jan 2018
Downloads: 169,384
Countries: 193
Sales: 778 Sales: 507 Sales: 504 Sales: 145 Sales: 298

18. UCL PRESS
Sample specialist titles - sales
Pub: 06 Oct 2016
Downloads: 15,927
Countries: 129
Pub: 26 Nov 2018
Downloads: 25,928
Countries: 141
Pub: 14 Nov 2016
Downloads: 14,117
Countries: 151
Pub: 17 Sept 2018
Downloads: 15,843
Countries: 143
Pub: 01 Nov 2015
Downloads: 12,942
Countries: 174
Pub: 20 Jun 2018
Downloads: 20,615
Countries: 145
Sales: 92 Sales: 69 Sales: 133 Sales: 135 Sales: 46 Sales: 130

19. UCL PRESS
Author feedback

20. UCL PRESS
Staffing
• 2015-2018
• Staff number rose to 5.6 FTE
• Outputs, 2018: 30 books, 8 academic journals
• 2019-22
• Merger with UCL IOE Press
• Total staff now 10 FTE
• Outputs: 50 books/year (target), 15 academic journals
• Roles
• Head of Publishing
• Commissioning; production; sales, marketing and publicity; journals; textbooks;
administration
UCL LIBRARY SERVICES

21. UCL PRESS
Funding
• UCL press is subsidised by UCL
• Costs are offset by income from sales, publishing services, and Book Processing Charges
UCL LIBRARY SERVICES

22. UCL PRESS
Funding- other perspectives
UCL LIBRARY SERVICES
UCL press subsidy in relation to UCL annual income
0.06%
UCL Press subsidy vs UCL annual research income
0.18%

23. UCL PRESS
Thank you!
l.speicher@ucl.ac.uk
@uclpress
uclpresspublishing@ucl.ac.uk
www.uclpress.co.uk
UCL LIBRARY SERVICES