LSE Press recently celebrated a significant milestone after it achieved one million usages, either downloads or reads, for its books and journals. We spoke to Chair of the Editorial Board, Professor Dame Sarah Worthington, about this achievement, some of their recently published books and her tips for alumni who are hoping to get their academic work published.

One million book and journal users

This milestone is a remarkable achievement by the terrific team at LSE Press. It underscores the growing reach of LSE Press, and helps highlight our mission of making high-quality social science research accessible to everyone through Open Access publishing. Reaching one million usages also confirms our view that there is a worldwide demand for rigorous academic content presented in an accessible way and reaffirms the commitment of LSE Press to broadening the reach of scholarly work.

Success

If I could pick three factors that underpin what we do, they would be these:

• Global accessibility: Open Access obviously removes barriers for readers worldwide, fostering a significant increase in global reach and readership. But more than that, LSE Press is intent on publishing works of serious scholarship that are meant to be read by those outside academia as well as inside it.
• High-impact titles: Books like Advanced Macroeconomics, Renegotiating Patriarchy, How Africa Trades, and How Did Britain Come to This? have been exemplary in demonstrating the global impact of LSE Press publications, earning widespread academic praise and book awards.
• Strong editorial standards: LSE Press ensures rigorous peer-review processes and top-tier publishing standards, which contribute to producing influential works to high quality standards.

Recently published books

Alongside our exceptional Open Access journals publishing valuable new research in the social sciences, the LSE Press Editorial Board oversee our book publishing programme. Our Editorial Board prioritises books in the social sciences that seek to educate, inform, and drive societal progress. All this is obviously intimately aligned with the LSE’s long-established strategy to use its intellectual and physical resources for social good.

2024 was a triumphant year for publishing at LSE Press. We published four new academic books and our brilliant open access journals continue to publish important new research.

Dead Men’s Propaganda by Professor Terhi Rantanen received a broad range of academic endorsements, it was reviewed in the LSE Review of Books and later launched at an LSE public lecture with support from the Media & Communications department and the Gilded Acorn bookshop.

Renegotiating Patriarchy by Professor Naila Kabeer was launched at the LSE Festival in conversation with Monica Ali CBE and Philip Hensher, and was showcased at LSE events collaborating with LSE’s Department of International Development and Geography. It was reviewed widely in academic blogs and the international press and is nominated for the People’s Book Prize best non-fiction book of 2024.

The Open Society as an Enemy by Professor J. McKenzie Alexander has been featured in Research for the World Magazine, LSE History blog, LSE Review of Books, and Game Changer podcast. This book was launched at an event at LSE in collaboration with the Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method and an event in partnership with The Philosopher journal.

Australia’s Evolving Democracy ed. Mark Evans and Patrick Dunleavy was promoted with blogs published in LSE’s British Politics and Policy blog, and Business Review and was launched at an event in collaboration with Charles Sturt University in Canberra.

These works exemplify our Editorial Board’s aim of publishing research that is both academically rigorous and highly relevant to global audiences.

Advice for first-time academic authors

Many LSE alumni are established authors already, publishing both academic and non-academic books. But my advice to first-time academic authors, whatever the subject matter of the book, would be to:

• Identify the right publisher: Look for publishers whose focus aligns with your material and your ambitions for garnering a particular readership.
• Craft a strong proposal: Ensure your proposal is carefully thought-out, so that it persuades your targeted publisher that your book would be a good fit for their list. You’ll need a compelling summary of the work, clear evidence of the quality of your research and your writing, and be explicit about the target audience you have in mind when you put all this together. For further advice on this subject, read my article on making your proposal stand out for the LSE Press blog.
• Focus on accessibility: Writing style matters—make your work engaging and easy to navigate while maintaining scholarly rigor.
• And of course, if it looks to be a good fit with the ambitions of LSE Press, we’d be delighted to hear from you!

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