New Open-Access Short Works from UNC Press and the Institute for the Study of the Americas

The University of North Carolina Press and the Institute for the Study of the Americas (ISA) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill announce a new joint initiative in open-access scholarly publishing.

Studies in Latin America (SLA) is a new series of short works to be published by ISA and distributed by UNC Press in digital open-access as well as in print and e-book formats.

Louis A. Pérez Jr., Director, Institute for the Study of the Americas, and J. Carlyle Sitterson Professor of History at UNC Chapel Hill, stated, “The Studies in Latin America series is designed to meet the emerging needs of a rapidly expanding body of social science scholarship on Latin America. The idea is to provide a new venue to disseminate original research in the form of short works of approximately 20,000 up to 35,000 words in length, and thereby offer scholars an opportunity to contemplate a new genre of scholarship coupled with an effective publishing outlet not previously available. The peer-reviewed short works open-access series promises to provide scholars with a vast readership and at the same time offer highly usable classroom texts.”

The Studies in Latin America series will promote new scholarship on Latin America and the Caribbean focusing on the social sciences—principally anthropology, geography, history, political science, and sociology—and featuring diverse methodological approaches and perspectives on vital issues concerning Latin America and the Caribbean, past and present.

The Spangler Family Director at UNC Press, John Sherer, hailed the new initiative as groundbreaking. “This series, which involves a three-way partnership between the Press, ISA, and the UNC Libraries, will be our first open-access initiative. It utilizes our new digital-first workflow to efficiently publish these shorter works, while maintaining the high level of quality and broad scope of dissemination traditionally associated with UNC Press books.”

Open-access content for Studies in Latin America will be hosted on the UNC Chapel Hill Libraries website.

“I am excited about this new venture in open-access publishing,” said Sarah C. Michalak, Associate Provost and University Librarian at UNC Chapel Hill. “The UNC Libraries and the UNC Press have worked together on several scholarly publishing projects aimed at making high-quality academic content broadly available. Studies in Latin America is a creative idea that will successfully advance that important work.”

The series will launch in 2015 with an anticipated two distributed works per year.

Studies in Latin America welcomes English-language manuscripts by senior scholars as well as by junior scholars. Submissions will undergo a formal peer-review process as part of the publication decision. The Institute for the Study of the Americas and UNC Press anticipate a wide distribution of the scholarship included in Studies in Latin America by taking advantage of the digital publishing environment.

Visit the UNC Press website for more information.