Knowledge Unlatched announces expansion into STEM

Knowledge Unlatched (KU) has announced a move into the STEM publishing market.

From Q1 2018 onwards, KU will accept submissions – both books and journals – in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. This will form a 'KU Select' collection to be offered for pledging in mid-2018.

Open access in STEM subject areas offers growth opportunities for KU’s cooperative model, the organisation says – and that publishers are looking to expand their open access portfolio, for which KU provides the optimal solution. The company’s platform helps both publishers and librarians to easily navigate submission and pledging processes.

'We’ve seen strong support from libraries and publishers in the humanities and social sciences. This is the ideal time to expand  into STEM, as publishers are also seeking solutions for books in areas other than HSS.

'KU, as an intermediary, offers a bridge between publishers and librarians,' said Sven Fund, managing director.

The size and focus of the new collection will be decided by the title selection committee after the first submissions have arrived.