UNESCO’s International Literacy Day takes place annually to remind us of the importance of literacy as a matter of dignity and human rights. As an academic publisher, the day focuses our attention on access to academic research which is currently limited for many universities and research institutes in low-income countries and in the Global South.
In order to break these inequalities, it is important that research and evidence that has the potential to create change is available to all, and that all are able to have their research disseminated globally.
In its Prague Declaration of 2003 UNESCO (link) states:
“Information Literacy encompasses knowledge of one’s information concerns and needs, and the ability to identify, locate, evaluate, organize and effectively create, use and communicate information to address issues or problems at hand; it is a prerequisite for participating effectively in the Information Society, and is part of the basic human right of life long learning.”
Enabling information literacy and access to literacy is increasingly at the heart of what Bristol University Press do. We have a number of initiatives in place to support this mission:
Supporting researchers in low-and middle-income countries
We work closely with authors and organisations from these regions to enable their research to be published, discovered and read. We are partnered with Research4Life, where not-for-profit institutions in eligible countries can register for free or low-cost access to research, to provide access to our journals and ebooks.
The Global Social Challenges Journal
Our new Open Access Global Social Challenges Journal provides free access to work from across the Global North and South and enables discussion between academics, policy makers, thought leaders, NGOs, practitioners and the public. It has brilliant editors from around the globe and content that focuses on pressing societal challenges.
Not-for-profit Open Access
Our commitment to not-for-profit Open Access is a crucial part of our publishing programme. Open Access fosters greater dialogue across disciplinary and geographical boundaries and reduces inequalities in access to knowledge due to lack of institutional funding. We provide a variety of models for academics from low-and middle-income countries for both books and journals and offer discounts on Article Processing Charges to authors who are applying from countries in low, medium and high categories in UN HDI.
Bristol University Press Digital
Through our new online content platform Bristol University Press Digital, readers can browse our open access content and filter by our Global Social Challenge themes – including Education and Learning and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion .
Informing policy and practice
Our imprint Policy Press aims to improve the day-to-day lives of people who need it most, by reaching beyond academia to government, professionals and the wider public to inform policy and practice. Our education list, published under this imprint, focuses on education policy and the inequalities that are both in-built in education systems and perpetuated by them. The right to education, including literacy, underpins much of this research.
We hope that by striving to improve equality in access to literacy, we can find practical solutions to global challenges, enhance understanding and mentor future generations to make an impact on the world.
Julia Mortimer is Journals and Open Access Director at Bristol University Press.
Read the original article from the University of Bristol here.
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