Academic & professional homepage
Welcome to academic & professional publishing
The UK is home to a world-class academic and scholarly publishing industry and a vigorous and innovative industry devoted to enhancing learner experiences. Here we will keep you alerted to the issues that will define the marketplace of the future.
The Academic & Professional Division (APD) works for a healthy marketplace: in higher education, the professions and among scholars. We address the challenges of managing and marketing IPR in the emerging digital landscape.
We campaign for the value of textbooks and the publishers' role in effective scholarly communication. We commission and track research into the ecology and dynamics of publishing markets. We generate guidance and advice, convene fora for debate, respond to consultations, and engage in the public debates that surround the copyright industries around the balance between the legitimate interests of rightholders and societal needs for access.
A new working collaboration with shared ambition for significantly enhanced access to research has embarked on a portfolio of research projects. The first four projects: Transitions to e-only publication; Gaps in access; Dynamics of improving access to research papers; and Futures for scholarly communications. Participants include The Publishers Association, RIN, JISC, Research Councils UK, the Wellcome Trust, UUK, SCONUL, RLUK, the British LIbrary, ALPSP, STM and PRC. Click here for more.
The APD open debate held at the Royal Institution in London on 24 June, 'Why pay for content?', brought together opposing debaters, first on teaching and learning in HE, then on research and reference. They locked horns over how established value chains will survive the current revolution in publishing, and explored how publishers' relationshp with the academy can be best fostered; click here for a round-up of the day.
The Publishing Research Consortium, of which the PA is a founding partner, has published its fifth Research Report, Access by UK small and medium-sized enterprises to professional and academic information. SMEs form an often-neglected market segment, but people in high-tech small businesses value information more highly, and read more journal articles, than those in larger companies. Click through for more.