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University presses and the impact of COVID ‐19
Author(s) -
Watkinson Charles
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
learned publishing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.06
H-Index - 34
eISSN - 1741-4857
pISSN - 0953-1513
DOI - 10.1002/leap.1352
Subject(s) - publishing , leverage (statistics) , the internet , interdependence , covid-19 , sociology , situated , media studies , political science , field (mathematics) , library science , public relations , social science , world wide web , law , computer science , medicine , disease , pathology , machine learning , artificial intelligence , infectious disease (medical specialty) , mathematics , pure mathematics
Abstract University presses occupy a distinctive field of publishing, heavily tied to the fortunes of the universities and colleges in which they are usually situated. COVID‐19 has catalysed their adoption of digital technologies; focused their commitments to social justice; and given new impetus to business models and formats that fully leverage the Internet, especially open access. Economic pressures on higher education that seem set only to increase are also driving university presses to more interdependent approaches and an emphasis on the contributions of the university press network to knowledge infrastructure for the humanities and social sciences. This article explores how university presses have reacted to the COVID‐19 pandemic, with particular reference to the experiences of the University of Michigan Press. It concludes that the diversity of types of university presses is one of the greatest strengths of this field of publishing and makes it resilient in a time of unprecedented change.