New Open Access Publishing Programs: University of California Press Formally Launches Collabra and Luminos

Note: We shared links to early information about the new UC Press publishing programs launching today and discussed below on infoDOCKET last week as well as last October.
Today, the University of California Press formally launched two open access publishing programs, Collabra (an open access megajournal) and Luminos (open access monographs).
From the UC Press Announcement:

Both Collabra and Luminos launch with a distinguished group of advisory board members, editors, authors, and reviewers from universities and associations around the globe.
“These programs have been shaped by hundreds of conversations with faculty, librarians, and other key stakeholders, [said Alison Mudditt, Director of UC Press].” “With Luminos, we will combine the global reach and visibility of OA with our unwavering commitment to publishing superior scholarship to create a speedboat, not a life raft, that will carry monographs forward and allow them to remain a vital resource.”

The Collabra Megajournal

The mega journal Collabra is based on an innovative model designed to share value generated from publishing an article among editors and reviewers who contribute to its success. Instead of retaining all funds generated from author article processing charges (APCs), UC Press directly compensates reviewers and editors for their work on the journal; reviewers and editors can then opt to pass these earnings on to an APC waiver fund that benefits other authors or to their institution’s open access fund.
At launch, Collabra will focus on three broad disciplinary areas: life and biomedical sciences, ecology and environmental science, and social and behavioral sciences.

Luminos Monograph Publishing

For authors whose traditional monographs have been relegated to sales of just a few hundred, an open access model offers the potential to exponentially increase the discoverability and readership of their work. UC Press’s model also supports rich multimedia content—essential in order to keep pace with new digital modes of scholarship.
Luminos shares the cost burden of publishing in manageable amounts across the academic community. For each title, UC Press makes a significant contribution, augmented by membership funds from supporting libraries. Authors will then be asked to secure a title publication fee to cover the remaining costs. Additional revenue from supporting libraries and print sales will help to support an author waiver fund.
“Luminos promises to bring together the most important benefits of digital publishing platforms—including the greatly increased discoverability and reach of open access and the innovative structures of multimodal scholarship—with the long-standing commitment to quality of the University of California Press,” says Kathleen Fitzpatrick, Director of Scholarly Communication of the Modern Language Association and Visiting Research Professor of English, New York University. “The combination presents extraordinary possibilities for publicly engaged, dynamic scholarly work.”

UC Press Advisory Board

To ensure the program continues to evolve as OA and the needs of the scholarly community change, UC Press has established an advisory board that represents the interests of many monograph audiences. These include:

• Wendy Chun, Brown University
• Kathleen Fitzpatrick, Modern Language Association and New York University
• Faye Ginsburg, New York University
• David Theo Goldberg, University of California, Irvine
• Christopher M. Kelty, University of California, Los Angeles
• Todd Presner, University of California, Los Angeles
• MacKenzie Smith, University of California, Davis

Links
Direct to Collabra Web Site and FAQ
Direct to Luminos Web Site and FAQ
Videos (Supplied by UC Press)


See Also: New Open Access Journal From U. of California Press Will Pay Peer Reviewers (January 12, 2015)
See Also: U. of California Press Announces Plans to Launch a Open Access Mega Journal and New Mongraph Program in 2015 (October 24, 2014)

Filed under: Academic Libraries, Associations and Organizations, Libraries, Open Access, Publishing, Resources