Bristol University Press launches Global Social Challenges Development Fund
Bristol University Press (BUP) has announced the launch of the Global Social Challenges Development Fund, a new initiative designed to democratise access to academic publishing and empower marginalised voices across the globe.
The fund will support Global South scholars and Early Career Researchers (ECRs) through equitable publication initiatives, including English-language editing, multilingual publishing, mentorship programmes and open access publication. It also aims to increase the real-world impact of evidence-based research aligned with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“In the face of rising global censorship, inequality and misinformation, open and equitable publishing of high-quality peer-reviewed global research is more critical than ever,” said Julia Mortimer, Journals and Open Access Director at BUP. “This fund will support scholars who are too often excluded and help ensure their work informs global solutions.”
With more than 30 years of social justice-based publishing, BUP and its imprint Policy Press have helped influence major policy and practice reforms across the world. Initiatives like its Diamond open access Global Social Challenges Journal (GSCJ) address urgent global social issues aligned with the SDGs across disciplines, fields and geographies, giving voice to diverse perspectives and approaches.
GSCJ’s mentorship programme for Early Career Researchers from the Global South and Diasporas supports the next generation of researchers to learn academic writing skills and start their publication journey, enabling them to share distinct viewpoints on global social challenges from a Global South perspective. The Fund will help to support equitable publication initiatives like this to enable underrepresented researchers to share context-specific insights and evidence that can shape real-world change.
Read more about the Fund here – all contributions will go towards direct publishing support, with regular updates shared via the Bristol University Press website.
To learn more or get involved, contact: bup-gscfund@bristol.ac.uk