Reflecting on publishing and research culture during Open Access week 2025 – with Dr Nicholas Maple
At the University of London Press, we have been reflecting on recent conversations in the sector about research culture, what this means for the humanities, the potential benefits of open access, the role of publishing and our own role as a publisher.
In this series of blog posts, recent UoL Press authors share their own publishing experiences and words of advice and support for new authors, along with their views on open access and what more publishers can do to work with the research community to help build supportive, collaborative and open research and publishing cultures.
In our next post in the series, we talk to Nicholas Maple, author of Refugee Reception in Southern Africa: National and Local Policies in Zambia and South Africa. Nicholas Maple is a Lecturer in Refugee Studies at the Refugee Law Initiative, School of Advanced Study. Prior to taking on this position, he undertook a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow position at the African Centre for Migration & Society (ACMS), University of the Witwatersrand. He is also the Co-Editor in Chief at the Refugee Survey Quarterly journal (Oxford University Press).
1. Tell us about your book with UoL Press.
Through a comparative analysis of the politics surrounding the welcome afforded to refugees, this book offers an original and unique perspective on refugee hosting in Africa. Using the cases of Zambia and South Africa, the book explores the question of why some countries maintain encampment reception policies for refugees, and others use a more liberal ‘free settlement’ approach, whereby refugees are granted freedom of movement and permitted to settle in urban spaces. While current notions of state-based reception is frequently framed as one-off moments, such as registration, Refugee Reception proposes a new understanding whereby reception is a process that reflects the complex dynamics of contemporary refugee arrival. By adopting this understanding, the book demonstrates how reception is a complex and on-going process of negotiations between refugees and the state. Indeed, the relationship between the refugee and host state often remains fragile and prone to ruptures, especially when less formal reception policies allow refugees to move back and forth between refugee camps and urban areas. Nevertheless, through these negotiations, Refugee Reception shows how reception policies are vital in shaping a refugee’s ability to settle and engage with local communities and labour markets in cities and towns.
2. What advice do you have for authors looking to publish their first book?
A key bit of advice that I got was reaching out to an editor first to have a conversation about your book. It’s great to get a sense of whether the press will be a good fit for you (as well as the other way around) before you start drafting a book proposal.
3. What do you think the benefits of publishing your book open access are or will be?
The biggest and most obvious benefit of publishing my book open access is its availability to anyone who wants to read it. After doing events presenting my book in-person and online for audiences in the UK, Southern and East Africa and Southeast Asia, it’s satisfying to be able to see the growing number of international downloads. It’s clear the book is getting a more global audience than it would of if it was only available in print or behind a paywall. Furthermore, the interest it has received in Southern Africa, where I conducted my research, is in a large part due to it being open access. As I discuss below, given the context in which forced migration research is conducted – it feels important to find ways to conveniently share your research and findings with affected populations, as well as other key stakeholders and local scholars.
4. The theme of International Open Access week is ‘Who Owns Our Knowledge?’ Why do you think this is an important question for humanities researchers and how does that influence your publishing choices?
Big and important question! Research on forced migration continues to take place within the context of vast inequalities. I am aware as a researcher from London with a UK passport, I have access to resources, including time and money. Within this setting, charges of extractivism have rightly been levied against researchers from the minority world in my field. Colleagues have therefore argued that the principle of ‘do no harm’ is not sufficient. As I explore in my book, I take this to mean that as privileged researchers we need to be doing more, either in terms of contributing to ending suffering (however modest that might be) or saying no to conducting certain research. These are difficult conversations for the forced migration field and I would not suggest I have the answers. Building from Mayblin and Turner (2020), perhaps a first step is the need to ‘sit with the discomfort’ of these charges of extractivism and take them seriously. In an attempt to address some of these concerns (as I do not think it’s ever possible to remove all of them), the intention was always to publish this book open access for colleagues and relevant stakeholders. I also hope to continue disseminating the findings in Southern Africa with policy makers, civil society and migrant groups early next year. It is essential this topic of ‘who owns our knowledge’ remains an ongoing conversation for researchers. More collaborative work with those affected by displacement is vital, with the development of alternative methods and new ways to reduce inequalities within migration research agendas.
