Frances Pinter steps down from KU Research

Frances Pinter is relinquishing her position as executive director of policy analysis and research group Knowledge Unlatched Research this spring.

Pinter told The Bookseller she was stepping down from management to focus on a number of research projects, and will also continue with a few board position as well as pursuing other interests outside scholarly publishing.

Pinter founded Knowledge Unlatched in 2012 as an Open Access venture for humanities and social science books, the latest initiative in well over four decades in academic publishing. The research arm KU Research, based at Curtin University in Perth, was established in 2016.

Her successor at Knowledge Unlatched Research will be Cameron Neylon, former advocacy director of PLOS and currently professor of research communication at the Centre for Culture and Technology at Curtin University, who divides his time between Australia and his home in Bath.

Pinter commented: "It’s been an honour and privilege to have held so many positions in publishing, worked with so many talented people and to have facilitated others to achieve their goals. I am delighted that Knowledge Unlatched Research, my last start-up in the industry, will be in Cameron’s very capable hands."

Lucy Montgomery, head of research at Knowledge Unlatched Research said: "Frances’s lifetime commitment to forging new paths in scholarly communication has created a powerful legacy and illuminated new possibilities for researchers and publishers alike. We thank her for her generosity, vision and the foundations she laid. Cameron brings a unique combination of skills to the position of executive director of Knowledge Unlatched Research: as both a researcher working at the cutting edge of Open Access, and as a respected commentator on Open Access policy and practice."   

Neylon added: "Frances leaves extremely large shoes to fill at Knowledge Unlatched Research. Her contribution and development of KUR leaves it well placed to deliver insight and support to publishers, librarians, authors and users of scholarly books at a critical time in their development. I am very excited for the opportunity to build and expand on KUR’s platform, working with very talented individuals who are committed to developing improved tools that enable a better understanding of the new open digital ecology."