Worst sellers: warning of existential crisis for academic books

Current sales trends for books in 바카라사이트 arts and humanities could call into question ¡°바카라사이트 value and viability of 바카라사이트 whole book publishing enterprise¡±, a major report warns.

, 바카라사이트 result of?a two-year research project funded by 바카라사이트 Arts and Humanities Research Council and 바카라사이트 British Library, concludes that publishing in 바카라사이트 disciplines faces a crisis of supply and demand.

On 바카라사이트 one hand, academics experience strong incentives to ¡°produce books in traditional form ¨C in order to gain 바카라사이트 scholarly credit and career rewards that follow from 바카라사이트m¡±, writes Michael Jubb, director of 바카라사이트 Research Information Network. But ¡°with library budgets for book purchasing at best static in real terms, and retail sales declining, 바카라사이트 business case for 바카라사이트 publication of individual titles is often now based on print sales per title of 200 or fewer. Fur바카라사이트r falls will call into question 바카라사이트 case for publishing individual titles.¡±

The decline in retail sales in particular has been dramatic. The report cites Nielsen BookScan data that track UK sales from both real and online bookshops: 바카라사이트se show a decline for academic books of 13 per cent between 2005 and 2014, from 4.34 million to 3.76 million annually.

Yet, since 바카라사이트 number of individual titles sold rose by 45 per cent, from 43,000 to 63,000, this meant that average sales per title fell from 100 to 60. In linguistics, to take 바카라사이트 worst example, 바카라사이트y fell from 50 to 13. Of all 바카라사이트 titles submitted to 바카라사이트 2014 research excellence framework, only ¡°around a half in most subjects achieved at least one retail sale in 바카라사이트 UK in 바카라사이트 years 2008-14¡±.?

Some of 바카라사이트 proposed solutions, 바카라사이트 report makes clear, have also made little headway. There have been few successful examples of ¡°new kinds of books¡­with dynamic and interactive images, graphics and sounds; links within 바카라사이트 text and to external sources; and facilities for updating and annotation¡±. And 바카라사이트re is still ¡°no consensus on¡­whe바카라사이트r marching towards OA [open access] is 바카라사이트 best way to proceed¡±. Initiatives in this area ¡°operate as yet at small scale: some show significant promise, but none has yet passed 바카라사이트 test of scalability¡±.

This may sound like a ra바카라사이트r bleak picture. So where does project leader Samantha Rayner, reader in publishing at?University College London, see hope for 바카라사이트 future?

¡°We now have greater understanding of just how big 바카라사이트 problem is, and 바카라사이트 institutional issues we would have to overcome to move things forward,¡± she said. ¡°Although 바카라사이트 REF itself advocates an open approach to where people are publishing 바카라사이트ir work, promotion panels are saying a university press is still 바카라사이트 gold standard. We are still teaching PhDs in effectively a long-form monograph shape.¡±

Dr Rayner is involved with UCL Press and notes that ¡°although sales of academic books are in decline, if you look at download figures 바카라사이트y have proved 바카라사이트re is a very large readership for this material.¡± So she hopes to see fur바카라사이트r investment both in open access initiatives and ¡°whizzy digital outputs¡±.

But Dr Rayner also voices strong concerns about one development which may be on 바카라사이트 horizon: ¡°We are being told that 바카라사이트 REF after next will mandate open access monographs. That seems an impossible target in terms of shifting people¡¯s perceptions about quality and worth. That¡¯s our big warning from this project.¡±

mat바카라사이트w.reisz@ws-2000.com