MEDIA STATEMENT
10 December 2020
The University of Western Australia Senate on 7 December committed to a future for UWA Publishing as a contemporary hybrid publisher.
UWA Vice-Chancellor Professor Amit Chakma said feedback had confirmed UWAP’s important role in the community, particularly in sharing local Western Australian stories, history and Indigenous voices.
“The University will honour UWA Publishing’s longstanding traditions and retain those features that make it unique,” Professor Chakma said.
“We will continue to produce literary works which share local West Australian stories, history and Indigenous voices.
“Some titles will still be traditionally published while others will be published through open access, removing cost barriers to UWA research and enabling greater community and worldwide access.
“We plan to publish more scholarly and non-fiction works which profile and share UWA’s research and academic strengths.
“UWA, like other Australian universities, is striving to be more responsive to people’s thirst for content in a range of formats. By diversifying we are ensuring we can meet and exceed this demand through the publishing of works that enrich and impact our lives in many ways.”
The hybrid publishing model will be developed with oversight by a newly established Advisory Board and publishing decisions will be supported by a robust process of Editorial and Peer Review. Internal management of UWA publishing will be re-aligned to the Library to expand the reach and impact of publishing while increasing collaboration more broadly across the University.
UWAP’s current commitments continue with future publishing, including a number of titles contracted for delivery in 2021. Manuscript submissions will reopen in early 2021 with clear guidelines for authors about the content and genre focus for UWAP.
In addition, UWAP’s backlist of over 400 titles is available for purchase, including through the UWAP website.
MEDIA REFERENCE:
Simone Hewett (UWA Media & PR Manager)
08 6488 3229/0432 637 716