Events hosted by Cambridge University Press, Palgrave Macmillan, UCL Press, the Booksellers Association, Lincoln University, Blackwell’s, The London Book Fair and Springer Nature are among this year’s Academic Book Week line-up, announced today.
 
In addition to events taking place across the country from 23-28 January 2017, a list of the ‘Academic Books that Shaped Modern Britain’, as chosen by the UK’s leading academics, will be revealed in January, with the public invited to vote on an overall winner. Meanwhile the Academic Booksellers Group will unveil the winner of its Academic Bookshop of the Year award.
 
Events confirmed for Academic Book Week include:

- Throughout Academic Book Week Palgrave Macmillan’s commissioning editors will hold publishing surgeries to discuss potential book projects and ideas, answering prospective authors’ questions and guiding interested academics through the publishing process

- Emerald Publishing is hosting two events: an event at Southbank University, inviting forward-thinking academics to re-energise the debate around academic publishing, and an event exploring the research ecosystem

- Blackwell’s at The University of Bradford will host an evening with human rights activist Sara Khan, who will discuss her new book: The Battle for British Islam: Reclaiming Muslim Identity from Extremism.
Blackwell’s Belfast will be running a three for two promotion on the ‘20 Academic Books that Changed the World’ – as revealed during Academic Book Week 2015. Blackwell’s Oxford will host three lunchtime events with details to follow in January

- After years of roaring success for Open Access journals and article-level metrics, Springer Nature is hosting an event with numerous speakers exploring the new wave of innovation from publishers, funders and universities

- The London Book Fair will be hosting a Tech Tuesday event in Oxford during Academic Book Week

- Hymns Ancient and Modern is holding a panel discussion at St Martin in the Fields exploring whether the Church really needs academic theology

- Cambridge University Press will be offering 25% off in the CUP Bookshop throughout the week

- White Rose University Press will be celebrating its first anniversary

- Almetric is hosting a panel discussion for publishers, librarians and researchers

- Universities around the country will be hosting events  

Academic Book Week’s flagship event at the British Library on 25 January will feature events hosted by the Academic Book of the Future project, UCL Press, the Booksellers Association, Lincoln University, and WHELF:

- UCL Press and AcBookFuture will host a workshop around ‘BOOC’ (Books as Open Online Content) – the first book to be published in this format will be the Academic Book of the Future project’s findings

- The Booksellers Association will run an event exploring the opportunities for booksellers and publishers in a TEF-led world (Teaching Excellence Framework)

- Cambridge University Press will host ‘Insight and Innovation in Publishing’, showcasing new publishing initiatives designed to meet the challenges of an ever-changing marketplace

- Lincoln University will hold a workshop exploring the future of the academic book

- WHELF will host a workshop about the academic library of the future.  

The week-long celebration of the diversity, innovation and influence of academic books throughout history is returning for a second year in 2017 following the success of the inaugural Academic Book Week in November 2015.
 
Additional events will be announced in January, and organisations interested in hosting an event should contact acbookweek@midaspr.co.uk or visit www.acbookweek.com.
 
British Academy Joins Academic Book Week
 
The British Academy has joined the Academic Book Week steering committee, represented by James Rivington, Head of Academic Publications and Events.
 
James Rivington, Head of Academic Publications and Events at the British Academy, said: ‘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 for the Academy to associate itself with Academic Book Week.’
 
The British Academy joins the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers, the Booksellers Association, the British Library, Midas PR, The Publishers Association, Research Libraries UK and University College London on the committee.
 
Follow the latest developments via Twitter: @AcBookWeek #AcBookWeek.