White Rose University Press is the UK’s first jointly managed Open Access academic press, and firmly establishes the Universities of Leeds, Sheffield and York in the vanguard of evolving scholarly publishing. All the books and journals we publish are peer-reviewed, and an Editorial Board made up
of senior academics from the Universities of Leeds, Sheffield and York ensure that publications are of high academic quality through WRUP’s rigorous commissioning process.
About
White Rose Libraries (WRL) established the not-for-profit WRUP in early 2016. WRUP is an Open Access publisher. Its publications are primarily digital and are free to access and download without barrier anywhere with a live internet connection. The content is issued under Creative Commons licences, meaning it can be shared and reused within limits set by the author (who retains the copyright to their content). WRUP publishes across a wide range of academic disciplines, and welcomes proposals from across the academic community, not just from Leeds, Sheffield or York.
Professor Nick Plant, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Innovation at University of Leeds and Chair of the WRUP Editorial Board
Professor Nicola Dibben, University of Sheffield Department of Music and WRUP Editorial Board member
Strategy and structure
WRUP believes the future of academic publishing is open. We will support the transition to an open scholarship environment with publications that are freely accessible to all, ensuring maximum global reach and impact. We will support authors and researchers, providing accessible publication routes for high-quality research outputs and teaching materials in the service of open scholarship. WRUP’s three key objectives are to support open access, ensure quality, and deliver service-led publishing.
The WRUP Management Board is drawn from the leadership teams of the White Rose Libraries and a senior academic representative from one of the partner Universities. It oversees the strategies and policies of the Press, while the WRUP Editorial Board, comprised of academics from the partner universities, makes all commissioning decisions.
Projects and events
White Rose University Press Advocacy events, 2024
The universities of Leeds, Sheffield and York have all hosted events across 2024 to showcase WRUP. This series of advocacy events aimed to further raise awareness of WRUP and its focus on ensuring academic quality, promoting open access, and driving innovation in publishing. With authors sharing their experiences of open publishing with WRUP, and through an academic-led panel discussion on the value and challenges of open access, these events also sought to increase the awareness of, and engagement with, open access book publication. The events reinforced WRUP’s identity as the open access academic publisher for Leeds, Sheffield, and York, and reinforced its mission to support scholarly communication and barrier-free access to scholarship. Read the full blog post for more.
Open Institutional Publishing Association Symposium, 2024
WRUP is a proud member of the Open Institutional Publishing Association (OIPA), a group founded to connect and encourage a diverse range of small to medium-sized university presses and university-affiliated publishing operations striving for open access. On 10th June this year, WRUP hosted the inaugural OIPA symposium, welcoming colleagues from publishing initiatives across the country to the University of York. Through a series of lightning talks, presentations, and collaborative workshops, we explored the current climate of Open Access publishing, heard about ongoing initiatives, and discussed challenges and next steps for the future. This was a fantastic and eye-opening day of networking with a range of colleagues. Read more about OIPA and its members on their website.
White Rose University Press Celebration Event (Leeds), 2018
White Rose University Press held a celebration and networking event in October 2018 to mark our development as a publisher and the growing impact of Open Access (OA) publishing. It took place in Leeds city centre at the NHS Horizon Centre and was attended by colleagues from the Universities of Leeds, Sheffield and York, including authors, editors, and members of our Management and Editorial Boards. Attendees gave speeches on the value of OA publishing and on what publishing with an OA Press is like from the author’s point of view.
For more information, visit the White Rose University Press website
White Rose Libraries 
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