Academic Book Week to reveal 'books that shaped modern Britain'

A list of "Academic Books that Shaped Modern Britain", events organised by Blackwell's, Springer Nature, Cambridge University Press and many others, and the unveiling of the Academic Bookshop of the Year award will mark Academic Book Week, running from 23-28th January.

The week-long celebration of the innovation and influence of academic books is returning for a second time, following a successful inaugural event in November 2015.

A flagship event at the British Library on 25th January will feature a workshop on the subject of BOOC (Books as Open Online Content) hosted by the Academic Book of the Future project and UCL Press, as well as an event on the opportunities for booksellers and publishers of the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) run by the Booksellers Association, and other events hosted by Cambridge University Press and Lincoln University.

Other highlights of the week will include publishing surgeries held by Palgrave Macmillan's commissioning throughout the week, an event hosted by Emerald Publishing at Southbank University "inviting forward-thinking academics to re-energise the debate around academic publishing", a panel discussion at St Martin in the Fields hosted by Hymns Ancient and Modern and exploring whether the church needs academic theology,  an event by Springer Nature "exploring the new wave of innovation from publishers, funders and universities", a panel discussion hosted by Altmetric, and a Blackwell's event in Bradford with author and activist Sara Khan. Full details will be available on the ABW website.

Meanwhile a list of the "Academic Books That Shaped Modern Britain", drawn up by UK academics, will be revealed in January, with the public invited to vote on an overall winner. The Booksellers Association's Academic Booksellers Group will also name the winner of its Academic Bookshop of the Year award.
 
The British Academy has joined the steering committee for Academic Book Week, joining the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP), the Booksellers Assoication, the British Library, The Publishers Association, Research Libraries UK, University College London and Midas PR. James Rivington, head of academic publications and events at the British Academy, will represent the body.

Rivington commented: "The British Academy supports a diverse range of research across the humanities and social sciences. As much of this research is communicated to the world through academic book publication, it is a perfect match fr the Academic to associate itself with Academic Book Week."