Academic Edited Volume Publishing Guide
Edited volumes form a large portion of academic publishing and thus present particular challenges to the development of solicitations, communication with and between contributors, and standardization of quality when dealing with multiple authors and perspectives (Ossenblok & Engels, 2015; Torres-Salinas et al., 2014).
Planning and Conceptualizing Edited Volumes
Thematic Development and Scope Definition
Editorial success in academic edited volumes either fills a gap in the literature on a subject or offers a survey of recent work in a field (Torres-Salinas et al., 2014). Establish unambiguous thematic borders and submission criteria to unify final outcomes.
Contributor Recruitment and Management
Get good scholars whose work dovetails with the theme of your volume. Determine specific deadlines for invitations formatting and quality from being invited to final deadline.
Proposal Development for Academic Publishers
Prospective edited volume proposals should include prospective contributor details, chapter abstracts and an indication of the work’s market ‘fit’. Publishers consider both the joint reputation of the contributors and the thematic coherence and potential market of the volume.
Editorial Process and Quality Control
Maintaining Academic Standards Across Contributors
Enforce strict review processes to maintain a consistent quality and style in all submissions (Davis & Blossey, 2011; Leydesdorff & Felt, 2012). It includes developmental feedback, help coordinating peer-review and extensive copyediting.
Copyright and Permission Management
Obtain copyright clearances for contributed chapters, before published material, and all reproduced images, or lengthy extracts. Formalise contributor intentions with a contributor agreement that specifies rights and obligations.
Marketing and Distribution Strategies
Academic Conference and Network Promotion
Use contributors’ professional networks and conference presentations to market the edited volume in relevant disciplinary quarters. Plan symposia or panel discussions with participants from the volume.
Course Adoption and Library Sales
Advertise edited volumes for course adoption through pedagogical uses and accompanying teaching resources. Academic libraries are the main market for scholarly edited monographs.
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References:
Davis, M. A., & Blossey, B. (2011). Edited books: The good, the bad, and the ugly. Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America, 92(3), 247-250.
Leydesdorff, L., & Felt, U. (2012). Edited volumes, monographs, and book chapters in the Book Citation Index (BKCI) and Science Citation Index (SCI, SoSCI, A&HCI). arXiv preprint arXiv:1204.3717.
Ossenblok, T. L., & Engels, T. C. (2015). Edited books in the Social Sciences and Humanities: Characteristics and collaboration analysis. Scientometrics, 104(1), 219-237.
Torres-Salinas, D., Robinson-García, N., Cabezas-Clavijo, Á., & Jiménez-Contreras, E. (2014). Analyzing the citation characteristics of books: edited books, book series and publisher types in the book citation index. Scientometrics, 98(3), 2113-2127.