With the publication of these books, the British Academy is, for the first time, offering delayed Open Access* for new volumes in its ‘Proceedings of the British Academy’ series – building on the approach for titles in the ‘British Academy Monographs’ series, which have been fully Open Access since 2022.
This is a key part of the Academy’s new digital-first publishing strategy with LUP, aimed at expanding the reach of its prestigious academic publishing programme. The partnership was first announced in January and officially began on 1 July.
Published at the end of August, the first batch of British Academy-LUP books are released in both digital and print versions. In the Proceedings of the British Academy edited collections series:
- The Pineapple from Domestication to Commodification: Re-presenting a Global Fruit, edited by Victoria Avery and Melissa Calaresu
- Ancient Plaster: Casting Light on a Forgotten Sculptural Material, edited by Abbey L. R. Ellis and Emma M. Payne
- The British Aristocracy and the Modern World, edited by Miles Taylor and Christopher Ridgway
- State-Making in an Age of Revolution, 1830–1880, edited by Anna Ross and Christos Aliprantis
- Transregnal Kingship in the Thirteenth Century, edited by Jörg Peltzer and Nicholas Vincent (Open Access)
In the British Academy Monographs series by outstanding early-career researchers:
- Capital, Privilege and Political Participation, by Joe Greenwood-Hau (Open Access)
- On the Edges of Christendom: Maurice of Burgos and the Church and Culture of Medieval Castile, by Teresa Witcombe (Open Access)
In the specialist scholarly resources series:
- Great Sogolon’s House: Mande epic from the Condé bards of Fadama (Guinea), edited by David Courtney Conrad
Dr Melissa Calaresu, co-editor of ‘The Pineapple from Domestication to Commodification: Re-presenting a Global Fruit’, said: “Our new book presents fourteen chapters of original research, ranging from plant sciences to history and from art history to development studies, to reveal the pineapple in a myriad of forms and contexts. Beautifully produced with full colour illustrations throughout, it has been a pleasure to work with the British Academy and Liverpool University Press, who have been attentive to the demands of coordinating many authors across many disciplines, and with so many images. That this book is one of the first in the series to be published to reach wider audiences through delayed Open Access feels especially appropriate for a volume which contends with the global significance of the pineapple.”
Anthony Cond, Chief Executive of Liverpool University Press, said: “The inaugural volumes of our new partnership showcase the breadth and rigour of the disciplines that the British Academy represents. Importantly, we will work together to create new opportunities for the Academy’s scholarship to be open access, maximising both readership and the opportunity for advocacy and impact.”
Professor Lindsay Farmer FBA, Vice-President for Publishing at the British Academy, said: “Our first books with LUP celebrate a compelling range of interdisciplinary subjects, from the richness of the colour images produced in ‘The Pineapple from Domestication to Commodification’, to insights into perceptions of royal authority and kingly sovereignty in ‘Transregnal Kingship in the Thirteenth Century’. We are proud to be showcasing the excellent scholarship in these volumes, and proud of our partnership with LUP and the exciting new opportunities that it brings.”
For more information, please contact Jasmine Watkiss, Media Manager at the British Academy (j.watkiss@thebritishacademy.ac.uk) and Paul Cockburn, Marketing Executive at Liverpool University Press (paul.cockburn@liverpool.ac.uk).
If you are a British Academy author and you’d like more information about the working arrangements with new publishing partner, please contact publishing@thebritishacademy.ac.uk or visit the British Academy’s author FAQs page www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/publishing/transition-faqs.
- The first eight books published under the British Academy and LUP’s new partnership exemplify the books produced by the British Academy – both the types of book (edited collections, monographs and specialist scholarly publications) and the subject range across the humanities and social sciences. All available frontlist and backlist titles are listed on the British Academy pages of the LUP website.
- *Delayed Open Access information: In a new development, the new volumes in the ‘Proceedings of the British Academy’ series will be made available on a delayed open access basis, once they have reached set sales targets. In addition, selected titles in the ‘Proceedings’ series will be open access on publication, with the first example being Transregnal Kingship in the Thirteenth Century, edited by Jörg Peltzer and Nicholas Vincent
About the British Academy The British Academy is the UK’s national academy for the humanities and social sciences. We mobilise these disciplines to understand the world and shape a brighter future. We invest in researchers and projects across the UK and overseas, engage the public with fresh thinking and debates, and bring together scholars, government, business and civil society to influence policy for the benefit of everyone.
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk @BritishAcademy_
About Liverpool University Press Liverpool University Press (LUP) has a distinguished history of publishing exceptional research since 1899. LUP publishes around 200 books a year, 50 journals, and more than a dozen digital collections. It is also the home of Liverpool Distribution Services and Liverpool Subscription Services, working on behalf of a number of university presses, foundations and non-profits to support the dissemination of scholarly research.
Member News Release submitted by Liverpool University Press on 09/02/2025.
