AUPresses joined with the Association of College and Research Libraries; the Association of Research Librarians (ARL); the International Association of Scientific, Technical & Medical Publishers (STM); and the Society for Scholarly Publishing (SSP) to reaffirm and support a shared commitment to the systems that sustain research in the United States. An inaugural article from the group, “Trust and Integrity: A Research Imperative,” that appeared in The Scholarly Kitchen in July 2025 encourages a forward-looking approach to research funding and communication, with a focus on continuity, integrity, and broad access. The group has continued to meet, building support within wider networks, and planning future efforts towards our shared goals.
The AUPresses Library Relations Committee presented a session at the 2025 Library Publishing Forum and 2025 AUPresses Annual Meeting that offered case studies of university press-library collaborations that are advancing open access scholarly communication, fostering diversity, and broadening access to knowledge. Presenters Jennie Collinson (Liverpool), Allison Levy (Brown), and Mary Rose Muccie (Temple), and moderator Jessica Thomson (Harvard Education) published an article based on this presentation in Katina. The committee also organized “More Than a Transaction: University Presses and Libraries in Conversation,” a session at the 2025 Charleston Conference that featured both press and library staff.
As a member of the Creative Rights in AI Coalition, AUPresses was chuffed to learn of the UK government’s decision in March 2026 to move away from the “opt out” model for rightsholders’ work being used for AI training, judging that model as “overwhelmingly rejected by the vast majority of the creative industries.”
The University-Based Publishing Futures (UBPF) community—a coalition of professionals who work at university presses, library publishers, and other academy-affiliated programs convened by AUPresses and the Library Publishing Coalition (LPC) in 2024—continues to collaborate to support the infrastructure of scholarly publishing. At this writing, 31 organizations have signed on in support of the project, including ARL and the American Council of Learned Societies as well as the Council of Editors of Learned Journals and the European Association for the Teaching of Academic Writing. UBPF working groups dedicated to advocacy and knowledge-sharing have been discussing, gathering, and preparing to share resources and best practices that support the advancement and accessibility of scholarship. The community is also working to convene “Responding to Universities in Crisis: A Summit for University-Based Publishing” in Seattle in June 2026, between the AUPresses Annual Meeting and LPC’s Library Publishing Forum.
Now in its second year, The Rosenblum Award for Scholarly Publishing Impact—sponsored by AUPresses, the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP), the National Information Standards Organization (NISO), SSP, and STM—celebrated Digital Preservation of the Scholarly Record as an innovation that has transformed scholarly publishing. Charles Watkinson (Michigan) represents the Association on the award’s planning committee.
AUPresses was pleased to be able to work with the Coalition for Networked Information (CNI) to present the 2026 Stand UP Award to Brett Bobley, founding Director of the National Endowment for the Humanities Office of Digital Humanities, at the CNI Fall 2025 Membership Meeting.
The Association connects and collaborates with numerous organizations and associations whose work affects the scholarly communications, publishing, and higher education community. Here are a few:
- Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers
- American Council of Learned Societies
- Book Industry Study Group (BISG)
- Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)
- Free Expression Network (FEN) and the Banned Book Week Coalition
- International Publishers Association
- National Humanities Alliance (NHA)
- National Information Standards Organization (NISO)
- Think. Check. Submit. Committee
Executive Director Peter Berkery continues to engage the wider community through roles on:
- Association of American Publishers PROSE Awards jury
- the ALPSP University Press Special Interest Group (co-chair until March 2026)
- the BISG Association Advisory Council
- the C4DISC Steering Committee
- the Participating Organization Council for Humanities Commons
- the NHA Board of Directors
- the Seminary Co-op Bookstores Executive Committees
