Three-D Issue 19: Palgrave Pivot

Felicity Plester
Palgrave Macmillan

In 2011 Palgrave Macmillan commissioned a series of surveys of over 1,200 Humanities and Social Sciences researchers from around the world to better understand the challenges they face when publishing scholarly research. Their responses illustrated the perceived restrictions in scholarly publishing – particularly regarding length, speed and timeliness – all rationales that have carried over from traditional print publishing.

Most scholarly print books are published between 70, 000 to 110,000 words, while articles are typically between 7,000 and 8,000 words in length. Publishers often have to balance the costs of publishing a book (editing, typesetting, printing, marketing etc.) with the perceived value of that book, which was often associated with its length. The evolution of digital publishing means that these limitations no longer exist. Why not publish at the natural length of the research?

Out of this research emerged Palgrave Pivot, a new publishing initiative from Palgrave Macmillan. Palgrave Pivot breaks down the boundaries of academic publishing by enabling authors to publish their research at lengths between that of a journal article and a scholarly monograph.

Titles are between 25,000 and 50,000 words, providing a necessary mid-length publishing format without cutting out important information, or needing fillers to bulk up to a longer format.

Palgrave Pivot publishes within 12 weeks of acceptance – emerging technology means that works can be published on increasingly fast schedules, which means timely research can be disseminated much quicker. Titles undergo a complete peer-review process, and are eligible for the UK’s 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF).

Published digitally, titles are available to libraries through their library supplier or via Palgrave Connect. They are also offered as print editions or as ebooks for individuals.

Samantha Burridge, Executive Director at Palgrave Macmillan, says, “Palgrave Macmillan is committed to user-focused innovation across all its publishing areas and we want to work closely with our community to develop the tools and services it needs. Palgrave Pivot is just one example of several new initiatives that we are committed to delivering to the scholarly community over the coming year.”

Palgrave Pivot launched on 30th October 2012 with 21 innovative titles from across the Humanities, the Social Sciences and Business. MeCCSA members will be particularly interested in Martin Barker’s Live to Your Local Cinema: The Remarkable Rise of Livecasting https://www.palgraveconnect.com/pc/doifinder/10.1057/9781137288691 and Arthur Asa Berger’s Media, Myth and Society https://www.palgraveconnect.com/pc/doifinder/10.1057/9781137301673.

Palgrave Macmillan will continue to publish Palgrave Pivot titles on a rolling basis alongside the rest of its extensive scholarly programme, with a number of excellent titles already signed for publication in 2013 and 2014.

We are actively commissioning new titles for Palgrave Pivot and would be happy to discuss ideas, even at an early stage. If you do have a project that you feel could be suitable, please contact Felicity Plester, Senior Commissioning Editor for Film, Culture and Media Studies on f.plester@palgrave.com.

For further information please visit https://www.palgrave.com/pivot/, where you will find a full list of launch titles, academic endorsements and a call for proposals.