Stay safe, and, as always, happy reading!
The UCL Press Journals Programme aims to create valuable opportunities and contributions to advances in the Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences, and STEM subjects at a global level, by way of challenging the publication process/format status quo and providing a unique and open alternative for researchers and the academic community. All 15 fully open access journals published by UCL Press have transferred onto the new platform and can now be found at https://journals.uclpress.co.uk, including the journal UCL Open Environment, which was launched by UCL Press in 2019 as the first and only dedicated, multi-disciplinary, Open Science journal, that publishes broadly across all environment-related subjects (https://journals.uclpress.co.uk/ucloe).
All journals are editorially independent, each supported by its own Editorial Board; carefully appointed to provide specialist subject specific expertise and are published open access to help ensure the widest possible inclusivity, dissemination, and readership. The Journals Programme reaches a global audience attracting a broad range of contributors and we work with a large number of subject specific indexers, repositories, and search databases, including PubMed Central, Web of Science, Scopus, DOAJ, Dimensions, Google Scholar and many more.
You can learn more about the aims, scope, submission criteria and indexing arrangements for UCL Press journals by visiting the ‘About’ page of each journal at their new home. Start exploring and sign up to Publishing Alerts at https://journals.uclpress.co.uk.
]]>Each year, the Choice Outstanding Academic Title Award is awarded to a small number of titles that have been reviewed by Choice during the previous calendar year. Choice is a publication of the Association of College & Research Libraries, a division of the American Library Association.
To be recognised as an Outstanding Academic Title, materials must:
Congratulations to Professor Labadi on this prestigious award!
]]>Since launching in 2015, the Press has published more than 300 academic books – including monographs, edited collections and textbooks- in a wide range of subjects. UCL Press books have been downloaded in 242 countries and territories across the world, reaching readers in countries as far afield as the Northern Mariana Islands and Antarctica, in addition to serving the needs of scholarly communities closer to home.
The 8 millionth download was The India Museum Revisited by Arthur McGregor. Co-published with the V&A, the book provides a full examination of the museum’s founding manifesto and evolving ambitions.
UCL Press continues to demonstrate the success of a model that seeks impact and visibility over revenue generation, and that reaches global audiences not previously considered possible for scholarly books and journals via traditional sales models. The Press looks forward to celebrating its 8 millionth download soon!
]]>Drawing on research conducted at the renowned Institute in Amsterdam, the series promises valuable insights into the evolving landscape of work and its profound impact on society. The open-access nature of the series ensures that these important perspectives will be accessible to a wide audience.
The series is expertly edited by Karin Hofmeester, IISH’s Director of Research, and Ulbe Bosma of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Aad Blok, IISH’s Head of Publications and editor of International Review of Social History joins them as Executive Editor. Together with an international team of advisors, they bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the project.
The inaugural title for the series is Marcel van der Linden’s The World Wide Web of Work: A history in the making, published on 9 May. This compelling book argues that ‘globalisation’ and modern labour management originated in agriculture in the Global South and were only later introduced in Northern industrial settings. It re-evaluates the core concepts ‘capitalism’ and ‘workers’, and refines notions such as ‘coerced labour’ and ‘labour markets’, to make a new analysis of the connections between labourers in different parts of the world.
Pat Gordon Smith, UCL Press commissioning editor, voiced her enthusiasm for the series. ‘The Institute is rightly respected internationally for its expertise in global labour history. Partnership with UCL Press’s extensive reach through open-access publishing will give the series great power to shed light on the intricate dynamics of work for a global readership. I am excited to be part of the venture.’
Together, UCL Press and IISH aim to use open-access dissemination to foster dialogue and engagement among scholars, researchers and the wider public. We are now looking to grow the series, and to publish titles that will feature work from scholars based ‘around the world’ themselves. Look out for news.
]]>For a full job description, and to apply, visit https://bit.ly/3GHu7r7. Applications close on 7th May 2023.
About us
UCL Press was launched in 2015 as the UK’s first fully open access university press. It publishes scholarly monographs and textbooks, and has a portfolio of 15 academic journals which have achieved a combined total of over 6.5 million downloads globally.
About the role
UCL Press was launched in 2015 as the UK's first fully open access university press. In that time, it has published over 250 scholarly monographs and has built a portfolio of 15 academic journals.
This newly created role will be responsible for overseeing the publication process on a designated list of journals, including acting as the main point of liaison with Editors-in-Chief on all day-to-day aspects of running their journals; ensuring articles are progressing smoothly through peer review via the journals submission system; monitoring schedules so that articles and issues are published in a timely manner; taking forward and supporting the delivery of journal objectives. Additional tasks to support the journals programme overall also form part of this role, as per the job description.
The role holder will be expected to work a minimum of 20% of their time on campus, on every first and third Tuesday of each month (designated Team days). The pattern of on-campus and remote working will be agreed with the role holder.
This is a full-time open-ended role, working 36.5 hours per week; times of work are as determined by the Line Manager.
About you
Candidates must have experience with academic journals in a scholarly publisher. This role would suit someone who has been working at assistant level or similar, looking to take the next steps in their publishing career. It is not suitable for students and academics who have filled a Journal Editor or Editorial Board Member role to further academic careers.
Successful candidates will be able to show a strong understanding of the full publication and peer review cycle with good experience of using journal submission and peer review management systems from an Editorial and management perspective. They will be able to show a good understanding of journal publication metrics and reporting, experience of working closely with Editors-in-Chief and be highly organised with a methodical and analytical approach to work, as well as a strong ability to manage own workload in order to meet deadlines.
What we offer
Salary
The post is graded as UCL Grade 6 with salary in the range £32,331 - £37,548 per annum including London Allowance.
Probation
This appointment is subject to a probationary period of 6 months.
Annual leave
Annual leave is 27 working days for a full-time member of staff and 6 UCL closure days in addition to 8 Bank Holidays.
Pension
Appointments are superannuable under the Universities Superannuation Scheme(USS).
Other benefits
As part of the UCL community you can access free lunch hour lectures, exhibitions and museums and collections. On campus UCL has the Bloomsbury theatre hosting a range of performances and a series of bars, cafes and other facilities, which UCL staff can use.
We also offer some great benefits some of which are:
Additional 5 days’ annual leave purchase scheme; defined benefit career average revalued earnings pension scheme (CARE); cycle to work scheme and season ticket loan; Immigration loan; Relocation scheme for certain posts; On-Site nursery; On-site gym; Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption pay; Employee assistance programme: Staff Support Service; Discounted medical insurance
Visit https://www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/reward-and-benefits to find out more.
Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
As London’s Global University, we know diversity fosters creativity and innovation, and we want our community to represent the diversity of the world’s talent. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong. We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in UCL’s workforce. These include people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds; disabled people; LGBTQI+ people; and for our Grade 9 and 10 roles, women.
For further information about the vacancy including the full job description and person specification about the vacancy and how to apply online, please go to https://www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/search-ucl-jobs and search for Reference Number B09-00860
Since launching in 2015, the Press has published more than 280 academic books – including monographs, edited collections and textbooks- in a wide range of subjects. UCL Press books have been downloaded in 246 countries and territories across the world, reaching readers in countries as far afield as the Northern Mariana Islands and Antarctica, in addition to serving the needs of scholarly communities closer to home.
The 7 millionth download was Lockdown Cultures: The arts and humanities in the year of the pandemic, 2020-21. Edited by UCL's Dean of Arts and Humanities, Stella Bruzzi, and Maurice Biriotti, with Sam Caleb and Harvey Wiltshire, the book is a unique response to the question of how the humanities commented on and were impacted by one of the dominant crises of our times: the Covid-19 pandemic.
Professor Bruzzi said: “On 26 March 2020, three years ago almost to the day, the UK was told to ‘stay at home’ as lockdown measures legally came into force. The lockdown year of 2020–2021 feels like both a distant and an all too recent memory, but one, nevertheless, in which culture played a crucial role. UCL Press recognised the value of a volume offering a fresh perspective on that difficult – for some, tragic – episode of shared history from the perspective of the arts and humanities and it is hugely exciting, and a privilege, to be the 7 millionth download of such a forward-looking publisher!”
The most popular UCL Press title continues to be How the World Changed Social Media by Professor of Anthropology Daniel Miller and a collective of eight other esteemed global anthropologists. The title has been downloaded over 725,000 times since it was published on 29th February 2016 and has been translated into a variety of languages, including Hindi, Tamil, Portuguese and Italian.
Paul Ayris, Pro-Vice-Provost (Library, Culture, Collections and Open Science), Chief Executive of UCL Press, said: ‘UCL Press goes from strength to strength, The Press has literally re-invented the concept of academic publishing for monographs. The commercial route to monograph publishing is broken. Open Access, with its global impact, has re-defined what impact means in a scholarly setting. UCL is delighted to have achieved such success with UCL Press within 10 years of its birth. Open Access monographs are the future.’
UCL Press continues to demonstrate the success of a model that seeks impact and visibility over revenue generation, and that reaches global audiences not previously considered possible for scholarly books and journals via traditional sales models. The Press looks forward to celebrating its 8 millionth download soon!
]]>For a full job description, and to apply, visit bit.ly/3TTbODd. Applications close on 4th December 2022.
About us
UCL Press was launched in 2015 as the UK’s first fully open access university press. It publishes scholarly monographs and textbooks, and has a portfolio of 15 academic journals which have achieved a combined total of over 6.5 million downloads globally.
About the role
This role reports to the Journals Manager and is responsible for overseeing the publication process on a designated list of journals, including acting as the main point of liaison with Editors-in-Chief on all day-to-day aspects of running their journals; ensuring academic articles are progressing smoothly through peer review via the submission system; and monitoring schedules so that articles and issues are published in a timely manner. Additional tasks to support the journals department overall also form part of this role.
This role may in part be suitable for remote working. The role holder will be expected to work a minimum of 40% of their time on campus. The pattern of on-campus and remote working will be agreed with the role holder.
About you
Candidates must have general academic journals publication experience of managing their own list of journals, a strong understanding of the full publication and peer review cycle with good experience of using journal submission and peer review management systems. They will have experience of working closely with Editors-in-Chief and be highly organised with a methodical and analytical approach to work, and ability to manage own workload in order to meet deadlines.
What we offer
As well as the exciting opportunities this role presents, we also offer some great benefits some of which are below:
- 41 Days holiday (27 days annual leave 8 bank holiday and 6 closure days)
- Additional 5 days’ annual leave purchase scheme
- Defined benefit career average revalued earnings pension scheme (CARE)
- Cycle to work scheme and season ticket loan
- Immigration loan
- Relocation scheme for certain posts
- On-Site nursery
- On-site gym
- Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption pay
- Employee assistance programme: Staff Support Service
- Discounted medical insurance
Visit https://www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/reward-and-benefits to find out more.
Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
As London’s Global University, we know diversity fosters creativity and innovation, and we want our community to represent the diversity of the world’s talent. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong. We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in UCL’s workforce. These include people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds; disabled people; LGBTQI+ people; and for our Grade 9 and 10 roles, women.
For further information about the vacancy including the full job description and person specification about the vacancy and how to apply online, please go to https://www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/search-ucl-jobs and search for Reference Number B09-00037.
Applications close on 11th December 2022.
About us
UCL Press was launched in 2015 as the UK’s first fully open access university press. It publishes scholarly monographs and textbooks, and has a portfolio of 15 academic journals which have achieved a combined total of over 6.5 million downloads globally.
About the role
This new role reports to UCL Press’s two Commissioning Editors and its primary purpose is to support the Commissioning Editors with a range of tasks including peer review management, contracts administration and author liaison. The post holder will also be responsible for keeping the publishing programme up to date, liaising with authors during the writing process to answer queries and ensure manuscript delivery dates are met, and to review and check manuscripts on delivery to ensure a smooth handover to production.
This role may in part be suitable for remote working. The pattern of on-campus and remote working will be agreed with the role holder.
If you have any queries about the role or application process, or need reasonable adjustments or a more accessible format to apply for this job online, please contact LCCOS-jobs@ucl.ac.uk quoting the job reference (B09-00019).
About you
The candidate will have experience of providing administrative and editorial support to Commissioning Editors in managing an academic book programme. They will support UCL Press’s two Commissioning Editors with a range of tasks such as checking submitted manuscripts, managing contracts, handling copyright permissions and liaising with authors.
What we offer
As well as the exciting opportunities this role presents, we also offer some great benefits some of which are below:
- 41 Days holiday (27 days annual leave 8 bank holiday and 6 closure days)
- Additional 5 days’ annual leave purchase scheme
- Defined benefit career average revalued earnings pension scheme (CARE)
- Cycle to work scheme and season ticket loan
- Immigration loan
- Relocation scheme for certain posts
- On-Site nursery
- On-site gym
- Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption pay
- Employee assistance programme: Staff Support Service
- Discounted medical insurance
Visit https://www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/reward-and-benefits to find out more.
Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
As London’s Global University, we know diversity fosters creativity and innovation, and we want our community to represent the diversity of the world’s talent. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong. We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in UCL’s workforce. These include people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds; disabled people; LGBTQI+ people; and for our Grade 9 and 10 roles, women. You can read more about our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion here: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/equality-diversity-inclusion/
For further information about the vacancy including the full job description and person specification about the vacancy and how to apply online, please go to https://www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/search-ucl-jobs and search for Reference Number B09-00019
Published today, Lockdown Cultures: The arts and humanities in the year of the pandemic, 2020-21 offers a unique response to the question of how the humanities commented on and were impacted by one of the dominant crises of our times: the Covid-19 pandemic.
While the role of engineers, epidemiologists and, of course, medics is assumed, Lockdown Cultures illustrates some of the ways in which the humanities understood and analysed 2020–21, the year of lockdown and plague. Though the impulse behind the book was topical, underpinning the richly varied and individual essays is a lasting concern with the value of the humanities in the twenty-first century. Each contributor approaches this differently but there are two dominant strands: how art and culture can help us understand the Covid crisis; and how the value of the humanities can be demonstrated by engaging with cultural products from the past.
The result is a book that serves as testament to the humanities’ reinvigorated and reforged sense of identity, from the perspective of UCL and one of the leading arts and humanities faculties in the world. It bears witness to a globally impactful event while showcasing interdisciplinary thinking and examining how the pandemic has changed how we read, watch, write and educate. More than thirty individual contributions collectively reassert the importance of the arts and humanities for contemporary society.
Download it free from https://www.uclpress.co.uk/Lockdown
]]>UCL Press was launched in 2015 as the UK’s first fully open access university press. It publishes scholarly monographs and textbooks, and has a portfolio of 15 academic journals which have achieved a combined total of over 6.5 million downloads globally.
The role will be responsible for identifying key textbook requirements and priorities at UCL, working with academic and library colleagues, and potential authors and writing teams. Responsibilities also cover the planning for resource and costs needed for delivery and growth of the programme over the next five years, including technical and dissemination requirements.
This fixed-term appointment, covering maternity leave, will be on UCL Grade 8. The salary range will be £47,414 - £55,805 per annum; inclusive of London Allowance.
This role may in part be suitable for remote working. The role holder will be expected to work a minimum of two days a month on campus. The pattern of on-campus and remote working will be agreed with the role holder.
For a full job description, and to apply, visit https://bit.ly/3EfM3rW. Applications close on 4th December 2022.
Candidates must have extensive textbook publishing experience, preferably from commissioning their own list or managing a textbooks programme at publisher level. They will need a solid understanding of the wider textbooks market, experience of having undertaken market research with academic authors, peer review and text development, and the drivers behind textbook acquisition by libraries and adoptions. Managing budgets and working with a governance board are key requirements for this role. An awareness of open access and open education resources will be a distinct advantage.
As well as the exciting opportunities this role presents, we also offer some great benefits some of which are below: •41 Days holiday (27 days annual leave 8 bank holiday and 6 closure days) • Additional 5 days’ annual leave purchase scheme •Defined benefit career average revalued earnings pension scheme (CARE) • Cycle to work scheme and season ticket loan • Immigration loan • Relocation scheme for certain posts • On-Site nursery • On-site gym • Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption pay • Employee assistance programme: Staff Support Service • Discounted medical insurance Visit https://www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/reward-and-benefits to find out more.
As London’s Global University, we know diversity fosters creativity and innovation, and we want our community to represent the diversity of the world’s talent. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong. We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in UCL’s workforce. These include people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds; disabled people; LGBTQI+ people; and for our Grade 9 and 10 roles, women.
For further information about the vacancy including the full job description and person specification about the vacancy and how to apply online, please go to https://www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/search-ucl-jobs and search for Reference Number B09-00032
]]>
In June 2021, when the evidence report for the 3rd UK climate risk assessment (CCRA3) was released, talk was of southern England summer temperatures over 40°C being experienced sometime “before 2050” (Baroness Brown in launching the evidence report) and in the detail the message of the Technical Report seemed to be that the chances of 40°C before 2040 was small.
Events have now overtaken these projections. 40°C came to the UK in mid-July 2022, just a year after the launch of the CCRA3 work and 2 years after the UK heatwave of 2020 was linked to over 2,000 excess deaths. Is there some readily available consistent context for this that people can look at so they can have some evidence on which to base their views and decisions? The BBC runs a service for the public to discover how hot it could get in their area of the UK under climate change. It is based on climate modelling. Some of the temperatures recorded in the last few days in the UK don’t feature in the results from the BBC tool even for a world where 4 degrees of warming occurs. The results for Coningsby in Lincolnshire where the new UK record temperature (40.3°C) was provisionally recorded are interesting: warmest summer of past 30 years: 34.9°C; projected figures for the future under 2 degrees of global warming: 37.1°C; and only under 4 degrees of global warming do we get close to what happened a few days ago: 40.2°C. Now, the BBC has a tool for extreme heat vulnerability, and even though this is based on 3 years’ worth of data analysed by a consultancy, it represents an interesting development in public information provision. And so far – on average – the world has warmed a little more than 1°C.
Right now, the UK is reflecting on an event where the previous high temperature record was simply busted by over 1.5 degrees and record temperatures were recorded not just in one place in southern England but in places as far north as North Yorkshire and, in the provisional data, at 39 separate locations. On top of this, night-time temperature records were also broken along with records for Scotland and Wales for both day and night. This was a really very exceptional event. Of course, the UK is not alone in experiencing these high temperatures as the data and mapping from many agencies, including that of the ECMWF (https://www.ecmwf.int). Wildfires across Europe, including in the UK, have led to deaths, injuries and destruction of property and are the most obvious dramatic impact of a European wide heatwave.
The climate model results all point in the right direction – they just did not, it seems as far as readily available public evidence has been concerned, reached the exceptional heights of the temperatures experienced although the weather modelling for the public was remarkably accurate. This is not particularly surprising as near-term projections will almost inevitably be more accurate than ones in the mid to far future. Quite possibly, the high temperatures were in the model outputs but just residing in the extreme tails of the distribution of the results.
So, maybe, more attention is needed to the tails of model projections so that potential extremes can be built into emergency planning, engineering designs, homes and lifestyles and, maybe, even the best climate models need to be improved in the challenging area of the extremes or the way their outputs are communicated. Other improvements to the processes of climate change work might also be needed.
There is, it seems, also a tendency towards conservativism in some climate change work in international and national fora driven by the need to strike that delicate balance between what the science might indicate and what is possible in both the policy and the political arenas. This issue came to the fore most recently when the COP26 agreement included that infamous ill-defined phrase about phasing down unabated coal - which really gets a lot of people off the hook in terms of cutting fossil fuel emissions anytime soon.
Perhaps the balance needs to shift towards the extremes the science points to as well as the long-term trends. Maybe also, the language of average global temperature rises has been in play too long and now is the time to be more local and make clear that people’s local experiences are going to be very different and sometimes very far from the average. Our language, our behaviour and our legal frameworks need to take account of what evidence is on real temperatures, real rainfall (and the lack of), and real-world problems such as new buildings that are just not ‘climate ready’.
Some will say it would be wrong to base actions on just one set of extremes, but the point is that the UK’s recent experience is just one set of extremes amongst many. There is a point at which what was extreme starts to look like an unpleasant norm. The world simply cannot afford the consequences of our changing climate. They are simply not sustainable in social, economic or environmental terms. Some 16 years after the Stern Report these facts must be faced by everyone. Finding a way through the challenges means acting fast and with the urgency evident in much of the CCRA3 reporting on risks that needed to be immediately addressed.
About the author
Professor Dan Osborn is Chair of Human Ecology, Earth Sciences, at UCL (University College London, UK) and Editor-in-Chief of the journal UCL Open: Environment (https://ucl-about.scienceopen.com/), published by UCL Press.
]]>Edited by Professor Hugh Starkey (LRE’s editor-in-chief) and Professor Li Wei (IOE Director and Dean), the result is a range of articles that critically engage with the educational and social thought, practice and development associated with IOE over its 120-year history.
Articles published to date offer critical reflections on some of IOE’s foundling disciplines, such as the philosophy of education, to intercultural studies and diversity in education, as shaped by notable figures in the history of the Institute. The issue also explores how hierarchies linked to colonialism shaped educational and institutional practice and analyse the journey towards decolonialised, socially just alternatives, as well as the emergence of the sociology of education in Britain, comparing competing conceptions of the discipline. Forthcoming topics will cover forms of knowledge and its influence on teaching practice, the development of primary teacher education, and much more.
The special issue is one of the many ways we are delving into the history of our work in education, culture, psychology, and social sciences, among explorations of how each decade of IOE’s existence has reflected and contributed to changes in individuals’ lives and society on a global scale. See more conversations and stories marking IOE120.
Founded in 2003, the LRE is an open-access, peer-reviewed journal that reflects IOE's broad interests in all types, sectors and phases of education in all contexts and its commitment to cross-discipline analysis. All volumes are available online and article and book review submissions are welcome.
Hugh Starkey
h.starkey@ucl.ac.uk
Editor in Chief, London Review of Education
Professor of Citizenship and Human Rights Education, IOE
Sunbul Akhtar
sunbul.akhtar@ucl.ac.uk
Journals Coordinator, UCL Press
Millicent Garrett Fawcett was covered by The Observer before it even published for its claim that her most famous quote ‘Courage calls to courage everywhere’ has been taken out of context. The first time that Fawcett's writings and speeches have appeared together in print, the book also been endorsed by a host of important figures, including Nicola Sturgeon (First Minister of Scotland), Baroness Ruth Davidson Lord Daniel Finkelstein Dame Jenni Murray and Sadiq Khan (Mayor of London).
In an era when many of us depend on debt to survive but struggle with its consequences, Financing Prosperity by Dealing with Debt draws together current thinking on how to solve debt crises and promote prosperity. The book is a timely intervention at a time when debt and the cost of living is at the forefront of many of our minds, and well worth a read!
Finally, Rethinking Heritage for Sustainable Development. Sophia Labadi's assessment of whether and how heritage has contributed to three key dimensions of sustainable development (namely poverty reduction, gender equality and environmental sustainability) within the context of its marginalisation from the Sustainable Development Goals and from previous international development agendas, is a must-read for anyone with an interest in heritage or the SDGs.
As always, stay safe. We'll be back in July with five new open access books for you!
]]>First up on May 3, was Alan Wilson's Being Interdisciplinary. Drawing on experiences from a five decade (!) long career as researcher in urban science, university professor and vice-chancellor, civil servant and institute director, it's an wonderfully readable book. While his experience in urban science provides the illustrations, the principles apply across many research fields, and there's something for all of use to learn. Well worth adding to your Summer reading list!
The Things the Really Matter followed on 10 May. Featuring series of conversations about the things in our life that we all, in one way or another, wrestle with if we are at all concerned about what kind of world we live in and what our role in it is: things like birth, age, and death, good and evil, the meaning of life, the nature of the self and the role the body plays for our identity, our gendered existence, love and faith, free will, beauty, and our experience of the sacred. Essential reading for anyone with an interest in...well...the things that matter.
Jonathan Gardner's fascinating A Contemporary Archaeology of London’s Mega Events explores the traces of London’s most significant modern ‘mega events’. Though only open for a few weeks or months, mega events permanently and disruptively reshape their host cities and societies: they demolish and rebuild whole districts, they draw in materials and participants from around the globe and their organisers self-consciously seek to leave a ‘legacy’ that will endure for decades or more.
Next up was Mary Richardson's important book on Rebuilding Public Confidence in Educational Assessment. Questioning the status quo needs buy-in from policymakers, teachers, parents and students, and from the broader public: from journalists, you, me, our friends and our children. Using examples from international settings to explore the nature of trust in assessment discourses, Rebuilding Public Confidence in Educational Assessment shows how these discourses can be reframed so that all aspects of the assessment system - policymaking, school planning, home practice with students - can be undertaken with confidence. If you’ve wondered just how we can rebuild confidence in our assessment system post-COVID, this is a great place to start.
Finally, our last book of the month: Co-Curating the City, which explores the role of universities in the construction and mobilisation of heritage discourses in urban development and regeneration processes, with a focus on six case study sites: University of Gothenburg (Sweden), UCL East (London), University of Lund (Sweden). Roma Tre university (Rome), American University of Beirut, and Federal University of São Paulo, Brazil.
As always, stay safe. We'll be back in June with three new open access books, including an exciting new volume on Millicent Garrett Fawcett!
]]>UCL Press has joined a collaborative pilot project with five other well-established, quality-led University Presses from the UK to seek funding for a number of first books by UK-based early career researchers each year. OpenUP has been approved as a participant in Jisc’s new Open Access Community Framework, which is supporting diamond open access initiatives.
The OpenUP initiative acknowledges the significant barriers that ECRs may face in securing funding to publish OA. This three-year pilot project aims to raise £96,000 per year to fund Open Access publication for 12 books in each period. The first batch of books will publish in 2023. UCL Press will use the fund to publish first books by non-UCL ECRs (UCL authors at all levels are funded by UCL to publish OA). Full details of the scheme can be found in the accompanying press release and more information will be released in due course.
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Open Access is becoming ever more important for researchers, research funders and readers. With limited resources available for Gold Open Access, early career researchers (ECRs) face significant barriers. They must compete with established scholars while they build a successful track record of publication, their employment contracts may be short-term, or otherwise less secure than those of their more senior scholars, and they are more likely to have heavy teaching commitments. At the same time, they are unlikely to have been eligible for research leave and are engaged in learning a new career.
This risk of inequality is particularly acute within the Humanities and Social Sciences, where funded research (and associated funding for Gold OA publication) is the exception, and monographs remain dominant as research outputs.
Gold Open Access
While Green OA routes also offer compliance options, there are clear benefits to Gold OA. The Gold Open Access version will have high production values, no embargoes, hosting on major platforms, and enhanced discoverability via metadata feeds, in contrast to (usually) pre-production Green OA offerings, which are restricted to University repositories. Visibility is key to citations and career advancement through publishing.
OpenUP
Six well-established University Presses from the UK (including UCL Press) are proposing a collaborative project to secure funding for a number of first books by UK-based early-career researchers. Libraries will be asked to subscribe on a banded basis and their participation will fund the cost of Gold OA for a list of eligible books.
This three-year pilot project aims to raise £96,000 per year to fund Open Access publication for 12 books in each period. The first batch of books will publish in 2023, and the books will have undergone extensive peer-review at various submission stages. If the threshold is not met within the pledging period, either a smaller number of books will be published Open Access in the following year, or the amount will be combined with that for future years.
OpenUP has been approved as a participant in Jisc’s new Open access community framework, which is supporting diamond open access initiatives. Institutions wishing to support OpenUP can find more information and pledge funding via Jisc’s Licence subscriptions manager.
Participating presses for 2022-2025:
For more information on OpenUP, please contact Emma Brennan or Alison Welsby: emma.brennan@manchester.ac.uk or a.welsby@liverpool.ac.uk
]]>Since launching in 2015, we’ve published more than 240 academic books – including monographs, edited collections and textbooks. Downloads have taken place in 246 countries and territories across the world, reaching readers in countries as far afield as Afghanistan and North Korea! You can see the full details of exactly what has been downloaded where here.
Selected highlights
February 2022 open access books
O Smartphone Global: Uma tecnologia para além dos jovens
Miller et al
A Portuguese translation of The Global Smartphone.
Download free PDF
Le Smartphone Global: Au-delà d’une culture jeune
A French translation of The Global Smartphone
Download free PDF
Panopticon versus New South Wales and other writings on Australia
Tim Causer and Philip Schofield
Featuring a wealth of previously unpublished correspondence, Panopticon versus New South Wales and other writings on Australia details Bentham's opposition to the New South Wales penal colony in favour of his panopticon penitentiary scheme and the establishment of a colony of free settlers in southern Australia. Download free PDF
Antarcticness
Inspirations and imaginaries
Edited by Ilan Kelman
Antarcticness joins disciplines, communication approaches and ideas to explore meanings and depictions of Antarctica.
Download free PDF
Stay safe, and, as always, happy reading!
For a full job description, and to apply: https://atsv7.wcn.co.uk/search_engine/jobs.cgi?SID=amNvZGU9MTg4MjAwMCZ2dF90ZW1wbGF0ZT05NjUmb3duZXI9NTA0MTE3OCZvd25lcnR5cGU9ZmFpciZicmFuZF9pZD0wJnBvc3RpbmdfY29kZT0yMjQ=
Reporting to the Journals Manager, the postholder will be responsible for overseeing the publication process on a designated list of journals, including acting as the main point of liaison with Editors-in-Chief on all day-to-day aspects of running their journals; ensuring academic articles are progressing smoothly through peer review via the submission system; and monitoring schedules so that articles and issues are published in a timely manner
The appointment will be on UCL Grade 6. The salary range will be £29,802 - £34,867 per annum; inclusive of London Allowance.
This role may in part be suitable for remote working. The role holder will be expected to work a minimum of 40% of their time on UCL’s Bloomsbury campus. The pattern of on-campus and remote working will be agreed with the role holder.
Candidates must...
Have general academic journals publication experience
Have a strong understanding of the full publication and peer review cycle
Have good experience of using journal submission and peer review management systems.
Be highly organised with a methodical and analytical approach to work
Be able to manage own workload in order to meet deadlines while maintaining high standards.
For further information about the vacancy including the full job description and person specification about the vacancy and how to apply online, please go to http://www.ucl.ac.uk/hr/jobs/ and search for Reference Number 1882000.
Please note that only information contained in the application form will be considered by the shortlisting panel therefore covering letters and CVs are not required. For enquiries regarding the application process please contact library-jobs@ucl.ac.uk or telephone 020 7679 7977 quoting the job reference. Further information about UCL Library Services can be found on our website http://www.ucl.ac.uk/library/ .
Closing Date: 9th March 2022
Latest time for the submission of applications: 23:59
Interview Date: 23rd March 2022
We particularly welcome applications from black and minority ethnic candidates as they are under-represented within UCL at this level.
]]>For a full job description, and to apply: https://atsv7.wcn.co.uk/search_engine/jobs.cgi?SID=amNvZGU9MTg4MjAwNiZ2dF90ZW1wbGF0ZT05NjUmb3duZXI9NTA0MTE3OCZvd25lcnR5cGU9ZmFpciZicmFuZF9pZD0wJnBvc3RpbmdfY29kZT0yMjQ=
Reporting to the Production Manager, the postholder will manage the production process on a designated list of books, including acting as the main point of liaison with authors during the production process; appoint and manage a range of freelancers; and monitor schedules and budgets so that books are published in a timely manner and to high editorial standards.
The appointment will be on UCL Grade 6. The salary range will be £29,802 - £34,867 per annum; inclusive of London Allowance.
This role may in part be suitable for remote working. The role holder will be expected to work a minimum of 40% of their time on UCL’s Bloomsbury campus. The pattern of on-campus and remote working will be agreed with the role holder.
Candidates must...
For further information about the vacancy including the full job description and person specification about the vacancy and how to apply online, please go to http://www.ucl.ac.uk/hr/jobs/ and search for Reference Number 1882006.
Please note that only information contained in the application form will be considered by the shortlisting panel therefore covering letters and CVs are not required. For enquiries regarding the application process please contact library-jobs@ucl.ac.uk or telephone 020 7679 7977 quoting the job reference. Further information about UCL Library Services can be found on our website http://www.ucl.ac.uk/library/ .
Closing Date: 9th March 2022
Latest time for the submission of applications: 23:59
Interview Date: 23rd March 2022
We particularly welcome applications from black and minority ethnic candidates as they are under-represented within UCL at this level.
]]> Picturing the Invisible
Exploring interdisciplinary synergies from the arts and the sciences
Edited by Paul Coldwell and Ruth M. Morgan
Picturing the Invisible presents different disciplinary approaches to articulating the invisible, that which is not known or that which is not provable. Download free PDF
Resisting Postmodern Architecture
Critical regionalism before globalisation
Stylianos Giamarelos
Resisting Postmodern Architecture studies critical regionalism within the wider framework of postmodern architecture. Download free PDF.
Stay safe, and, as always, happy reading!
]]>The University Presses involved in this initiative are: Bristol, Cambridge, Cork, Edinburgh, Goldsmiths, Harvard (International office), Liverpool, University of London, Manchester, MIT (UK office), Oxford, Princeton (European office), University College Dublin, University College London, The University of Wales Press, University of Westminster and Yale University Press London.
EvenUP complements the work of the Association of University Presses, (AUPresses) and the Coalition for Diversity and Inclusion in Scholarly Communications (C4DISC).
For more information, visit the website.
]]>The Neoliberal Age? Britain since the 1970s was covered by Nick Cohen in The Observer within days of its release, and makes the case that the standard story of neoliberalism is too simplistic.
Where the standard story sees neoliberalism as right-wing, this book points to some left-wing origins, too; where the standard story emphasises the agency of think-tanks and politicians, The Neoliberal Age? Britain since the 1970sshows that other actors from the business world were also highly significant. Where the standard story can suggest that neoliberalism transformed subjectivities and social lives, this book illuminates other forces which helped make Britain more individualistic in the late twentieth century.
Whatever your take on, we can only agree on with Nick on this one:
'a new collection of essays by modern historians suggests that supposed insiders may not understand what neoliberalism means either. The Neoliberal Age? Britain since the 1970s is well worth reading and not only because the generous publishers allow you to download it free.'
As always, stay safe!
]]>Since launching in 2015, we’ve published more than 200 academic books – including monographs, edited collections and textbooks. Downloads have taken place in 245 countries and territories across the world, reaching readers in countries as far afield as Afghanistan and North Korea!
To celebrate, we've produced a video- enjoy!
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We apologise for any inconvenience caused.
]]>We apologise for any inconvenience caused.
]]>We published five new open access books (including two charming UCL-related titles) this month- an updated history of the UCL Institute of Education, and the story of how Alexander Williamson and UCL helped to shape modern Japan. Both are well worth a look!
Alexander Williamson
A Victorian chemist and the making of modern Japan
Takaaki Inuzuka and translated by Haruko Laurie
Alexander Williamson: A Victorian chemist and the making of modern Japan is a short, accessible biography that tells the story of Alexander Williamson, professor of chemistry at UCL (1849–87) and a leading scientist of his time, and the part he played in the modernisation of Japan. Download free PDF.
The UCL Institute of Education, 2e
From training college to global institution
Richard Aldrich and Tom Woodin
This elegantly written history charts the UCL Institute of Education since its beginnings in 1902 as a teacher training college for London to a position of influence on the nature and direction of education in the UK and across the globe. With two new chapters, this second edition extends the story to 2020. Download free PDF.
Here's what else we published:
Writing Resistance
Revolutionary memoirs of Shlissel´burg Prison, 1884-1906
Sarah J. Young
Writing Resistance features the tragic (but uplifting) memoirs of three political prisoners in the notorious Shlissel´burg Fortress near St Petersburg at the turn of the nineteenth century. Download free PDF
Exile, Non-Belonging and Statelessness in Grangaud, Jabès, Lubin and Luca
No man’s language
Greg Kerr
Exile, Non-Belonging and Statelessness in Grangaud, Jabès, Lubin and Luca studies the work of four French-language poets to question the relationship between poet, the language they use and the place from which they speak. Download free PDF.
Rethinking Urban Risk and Resettlement in the Global South
Edited by Cassidy Johnson, Garima Jain, and Allan Lavell
Rethinking Urban Risk and Resettlement in the Global South investigates urban resettlement programmes across the Global South from the perspective of risk reduction. Download free PDF.
Stay safe, and, as always, happy reading!
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From the press release:
"Smiles broke out on the judging panel’s faces, as person after person gave positive reasons for why they valued Kucirkova’s book. First of all, they found it to be a timely, informative, innovative, practical, well signposted and up-to-date book effectively grounded in the author’s experiences as both practitioner and researcher. The book divides neatly into chapters which in the first half consider how to read, evaluate and use commercially produced digital books to support children’s language and literacies, and in the second half consider the creation of digital books by children with adults. The latter promote the value of storytelling by children and story-making for parents, emphasising process as well as product and offering children, teachers and parents agency and empowerment. In addition, its well organised format and recommendations for further reading were valued, while the way it explains the technology was considered most helpful. Several members of the panel felt it was well suited to all key stages, possibly even a global audience, despite its subtitle limiting it to primary practitioners. Everyone liked the fact that it could reach a wide audience as it is free for online readers. The qualities of Kucirkova’s book cover many of the criteria for this award, especially being based on sound, diverse and inclusive research, making a distinctive contribution to literacy education and encouraging teachers to be reflective, innovative and creative. A clearly, deserving winner."]]>Written by IOE historian of education Dr Tom Woodin, the two latest chapters tell the story of the Institute’s extraordinary growth in the early 2000s and its merger with UCL in 2014. They cover the leadership of first Professor Geoff Whitty and then Professors Chris Husbands, Andrew Brown, Becky Francis, Sue Rogers, and leading to the appointment of its new director from 2021, Professor Li Wei.
The chapters also look at life at the IOE during and following its merger with UCL, which saw structural changes to the organisation and the accolade of being named Number 1 for Education in the QS World University Rankings in 2014, a position the Institute has retained every year since. It was a period in which the IOE took advantage of the exponential global growth of interest in education and learning. A vision of researching and teaching education in its widest sense, placing technical changes within approaches from the social sciences and humanities, permeated the IOE. Research initiatives proliferated which led to a virtual quadrupling of the size of the Institute.
The merger formed a significant part of both the IOE and UCL’s history as it created a new institution with over 35,000 students, the biggest higher education institution in London, and the largest postgraduate institution in the UK, with 19,000 postgraduate students. The merger also secured the IOE's lasting influence and mission. It provided new opportunities to extend its global reach, extend its undergraduate offer to sit alongside its postgraduate focus and build cross-disciplinary work across the full range of higher education.
In the book, Dr Woodin offers his reflections on the merger with UCL and highlights some of the existing and future challenges that the IOE, the higher education sector, and the world will face.
The author’s chapters add to the late Professor Richard Aldrich’s original work The Institute of Education 1902-2002: A centenary history, published in 2002 and published by the IOE. Aldrich’s chapters begin with the Institute’s foundation as the London Day Training College in 1902 and look at the work of its directors, its different homes and its establishment as an autonomous college of the University of London, having gained its own Royal Charter in 1987.
Dr Woodin said: “Charting the history of the IOE was a fascinating process which involved understanding its survival and flourishing in a context of rapid change across the higher education sector. The IOE has successfully addressed many key educational challenges in recent decades and has impacted upon the study and teaching of education in its broadest sense, regionally, nationally and globally.”
The UCL Institute of Education: From training college to global institution is published by UCL Press on 8 June 2021 and is free to download as a PDF.
]]>We also published two other amazing books in the second half of the month: Families and Food in Hard Times and On Learning. Why not take a look? They're all free to download as always!
The Global Smartphone
Beyond a youth technology
Daniel Miller, Laila Abed Rabho, Patrick Awondo, Maya de Vries, Marília Duque, Pauline Garvey, Laura Haapio-Kirk, Charlotte Hawkins, Alfonso Otaegui, Shireen Walton, and Xinyuan Wang
The smartphone is often literally right in front of our nose, so you would think we would know what it is. But do we? To find out, 11 anthropologists each spent 16 months living in communities in Africa, Asia, Europe and South America, focusing on the take up of smartphones by older people. Their research reveals that smartphones are technology for everyone, not just for the young. Download free PDF
Ageing with Smartphones in Ireland
When life becomes craft
Pauline Garvey and Daniel Miller
There are not many books about how people get younger. It doesn’t happen very often. But Ageing with Smartphones in Ireland documents a radical change in the experience of ageing. Download free PDF
Ageing with Smartphones in Urban Italy
Care and community in Milan and beyond
Shireen Walton
‘Who am I at this (st)age? Where am I and where should I be, and how and where should I live?’ These questions, which individuals ask themselves throughout their lives, are among the central themes of this book, which presents an anthropological account of the everyday experiences of age and ageing in an inner-city neighbourhood in Milan, and in places and spaces beyond. Download free PDF.
Families and Food in Hard Times
European comparative research
Rebecca O'Connell and Julia Brannen
Food is fundamental to health and social participation, yet food poverty has increased in the global North. Adopting a realist ontology and taking a comparative case approach, Families and Food in Hard Times addresses the global problem of economic retrenchment and how those most affected are those with the least resources. Download free PDF.
On Learning
A general theory of objects and object-relations
David Scott
A concept can have many meanings and can be used in a number of different ways, and this creates difficulty when considering the nature of objects and the relationships between them. To enable this, David Scott answers a series of questions about concepts in general and the concept of learning in particular. Download free PDF.
Stay safe, and, as always, happy reading!
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