Digital Publishing FAQ

Why did we need a publishing process for digital scholarship?

Emergent technologies (and scholars’ increasing fluency with these technologies) have provided academics with new ways to present scholarship. Yet for many academics the prospect of pursuing digital projects may present a significant opportunity cost. Whereas journal and monograph publishing both have established ecosystems of peer review and accreditation—making them key benchmarks in the careers of scholars—there have been no formal channels for publication or consistent peer review standards for digital projects. This initiative allowed us to advance a publishing process that helped authors develop their concept (in both content and form) and reach their market effectively to confer the same level of academic credibility on digital projects as print books receive.

Has anybody else done this?

While there are numerous efforts underway within digital scholarly publishing, we have been the only publisher providing a process to take born-digital scholarship through the established stages of book publishing with the same care and rigor that would attend a print book. Under the auspices of a generous 7-year grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, we developed and refined a robust publishing pipeline and best practices for publishing digital projects.

What kind of platforms are these projects hosted on?

Projects are hosted on a variety of platforms. We have supported the use of open-sourced solutions and platforms but also welcomed platforms custom-built for specific projects where existing platforms can’t accommodate the needs of a project at hand.

What were grant funds used for?

Grant funds have been used to create an infrastructure for publishing digital projects—including the creation of two new jobs at the Press solely dedicated to the digital program. The funds also underwrite our robust marketing efforts for digital projects.

How can I access these projects?

Projects are available online and can be accessed via our site or the project’s unique URL.

Do I need permission to make use of any part of SUP’s digital projects?

Our projects are licensed under specific Creative Commons (and, where applicable, GNU) licenses and each project is clearly marked with the license under which it is made available. If you are unsure what the license allows you to do or are interested in permissions beyond that license, please feel free to contact us at permissions@www.sup.org.