The GW4 Early Career Publishing Prize is a pilot initiative from the GW4 Consortium in collaboration with the Bristol University Press (BUP). It seeks to celebrate Early Career Researchers (ECRs) and support the prize winner in exploring publication of the research in their doctoral thesis as a monograph.

In drafting the submission, authors will have to present an effective proposal for a monograph based on their thesis.

The winner of the Early Career Publishing Prize will receive £250, in addition to this the winner will have their monograph proposal taken through the full BUP commissioning process (including peer review), with the BUP Editorial Board signing off a monograph which meet BUP’s rigorous requirements.  Should the monograph be commissioned the prize will include the publishing fees and commissioned authors will be fully supported through the publishing process.

The monograph would be published as Open Access using a Creative Commons Licence, making it free to access globally to everyone and maximising the potential reach of the research.

Criteria

Any PhD awarded by one of the GW4 Institutions (Bath, Bristol, Cardiff and Exeter) which appears on a pass list in 2020, 2021 or 2022 and meets at least one of the following criteria:

• Letter of Excellence
• Thesis awarded with no corrections or minor corrections only
• Candidate received a strong recommendation to publish as a monograph in the examiner’s comments

We can only consider theses in a format that would work as a text-based monograph (i.e., not ones that are performance or practice based, or by publication). We do welcome proposals that include digital media to enhance the content e.g., use of audio, video, etc. While the original thesis can be in a different language, the proposed monograph would need to be written in English. We cannot accept submissions from those who have already published or have secured agreement to publish work based on their thesis.

More information on the prize

This prize is aimed at early career researchers who are interested in the benefits of publishing an open access (OA) monograph to widen the accessibility and impact of their research for the global community, and the advantages publishing an open access (OA) monograph provides in terms of their visibility as a researcher. There are currently expectations around a growing commitment to OA monograph publication by funders and for the next REF. If you are committed to maximum dissemination of your research to the widest possible audience but do not have a funding source to publish your research, then please consider applying.

There are two parts to the prize:

The first part is a prize of £250 for the winning monograph proposal. The second part involves the proposal taken through the BUP peer review and commissioning process. Please note that the peer review process does not guarantee in resulting in a commission to publish.

The two parts of the prize are linked, and submission of a proposal is a commitment to follow the process through publication, if selected as the prize winner. This means that authors need to be able to commit to doing the work required to turn their thesis into a monograph, as these are very different research outputs.

You will have to engage with the peer review and editorial process, using feedback to develop the manuscript to its maximum potential. You must also be satisfied with BUP as publisher. You will also have to commit to not submit your proposal, or others based on the same thesis or research, to other publishers until the shortlist is finalised. Prize winners will be committed to publishing their proposal with BUP.

Incorporating relevant feedback from peer reviewers and the BUP Editorial Board will also be important to the success of the project, and you may want to discuss this with your supervisor. This will also take time, which will differ depending on the scope of the feedback.

You may need to be involved in the stages of the production process; for example, reviewing the work of the copyeditor, indexer and signing off the typesetting work by proofreading the book. BUP would be able to work with you to create a schedule that works around your other commitments.

There will be practical considerations too. If your thesis contains third party content, BUP can help you make sure you have the right permissions to use this content in a published book, which will differ from those you needed to use for your thesis.

Writing a monograph is a significant piece of work, but it will be required over distinct phases of publication, and BUP will work with you to ensure the timescales are realistic.

Entering the prize commits you to engage with all the elements. If you are not comfortable with any of the elements of the prize, please discuss your concerns or ask any questions before submitting by contacting: open-research-prize@bristol.ac.uk

Dates

The relevant dates for this year's prize are as follows:

• Monday 2 October 2023 - applications open for all categories (see How to enter for details of other categories)
  
  
• UPDATED Tuesday 14 November 2023 23:59 - applications for GW4 Early Career Publishing Prize close
  
  
• Monday 20 November 2023 - applicants for GW4 Early Career Publishing Prize notified of shortlisting outcome and successful entries invited to event
  
  
• UPDATED: Thursday 23 November 2023 - Open Research Prize event online only. Apply for tickets to attend via Eventbrite here.

How to submit

Complete the submission template (see Annex 3: Early Career Publishing template (Office document, 1,365kB)), in collaboration with your supervisor.

The application form asks for information about you, your thesis, your proposed monograph, the importance of open research to your work, and how you will turn your assessed work into this different format.

The form must include a supporting paragraph from your PhD supervisor.  

Once complete, you should submit the form to: open-research-prize@bristol.ac.uk

The deadline for submissions is 23:59 on Tuesday 14th November 2023.

The process

When submission closes, the entries will be reviewed to check they meet the criteria. The shortlist of submissions will be sent to a review panel including senior academics and publishers. The panel will review the full range of submissions and finalise the prize winner. All those who have submitted a proposal will hear the outcome of their submission.  

The winner will be notified by Monday 20th November 2023 and invited to an online event to be held on Thursday 23 November when the GW4 Early Career Publishing Prize will be announced.