University of London Press staff publish case study in Learned Publishing
We are very pleased to share the publication of a case study in Learned Publishing by our Publisher Emma Gallon and previous Production Manager Jamie Bowman: ‘Reimagining the Humanities Book: Bringing Living with Machines to Life Through Experimental Publishing Workflows and Open Research Practices’. The article presents a case study which reflects our ongoing commitment to opening up humanities research.
Published as an open access article, the piece explores the experimental publishing journey behind Living with Machines: Computational Histories of the Age of Industry, a forthcoming book edited by Ruth Ahnert, Emma Griffin and Jon Lawrence and written by the Living with Machines Team, arising out of the UKRI-funded digital humanities research project of the same name. The project exemplifies how digital tools, collaborative workflows and open research principles can be harnessed to reimagine the scholarly monograph.
By reimagining the book as a ‘process’ rather than a ‘product’ we aimed to offer a publishing model and options that are better aligned with the collaborative open research principles of the Living with Machines project itself and better suit its diverse range of outputs. The article details three core innovations trialled in the book’s development and shows how they can transform scholarly communication in the humanities. These are:
- Iterative publication, allowing chapters to be released and reviewed in phases, making the published research available to readers much sooner than if they had to wait for the release of the final complete book through a more traditional publishing route, as well as increasing transparency and reader engagement.
- Open peer review, facilitated through the Manifold platform, enabling real-time dialogue between authors and reviewers.
- Multimedia integration, embedding datasets, visualisations and digital resources directly into the book to maximise the reuse and accessibility of the research data underpinning the publication.
The article shares key learnings from the project, including the importance of close coordination between editorial and production teams, the value of clear documentation and communication, and the challenges of resourcing such projects.
Our thanks go to the Living with Machines author team, the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) for funding the open access publication costs for the Living with Machines book from the research project grant, and to the Manifold team for awarding us funding to set up the University of London Press instance of the Manifold platform.
Living with Machines: Computational Histories of the Age of Industry will publish in October 2026. A selection of chapters of this title are currently available on our instance of Manifold.
As a predominantly open access publisher, University of London Press is proud to support experimental models that reflect the collaborative and interdisciplinary nature of humanities research. This case study not only showcases the potential of open publishing platforms like Manifold but also offers a practical roadmap for other publishers and authors seeking to innovate.
Read the full article in Learned Publishing.
We are also excited to share two new chapters from Living with Machines are now available to read on Manifold. These are:
- Chapter 1: The Environmental Scan as a method for digital source criticism at scale: The primary goal of the Environmental Scan is to provide a framework and set of methods to contextualise large-scale digitised, historical data.
- Chapter 2: MapReader: Software and Principles for Computational Map Studies: MapReader breaks down a method for working with maps at scale into steps that analyse abstract but meaningful units […] to facilitate creative thinking about historical landscapes and cartographic practice that can provide different and complementary views on the past to non-computational analyses.
