The Library Publishing Coalition has extended the deadline for submitting applications for the second annual Publishing Practice Awards to January 31, 2022. These awards are designed to recognize and raise awareness of effective and sustainable library publishing practices.

The Publishing Practice Awards will highlight library publishing programs that implement concepts advanced in the LPC’s An Ethical Framework for Library Publishing and/or in the LPC’s Values statement. While a representative publication must be submitted, the focus of these awards is not on publication content but on the process of publishing the piece. This year, award categories are:

• Accessibility
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
• Privacy

An award will be available in each category, though all categories may not be awarded each year. One additional category— Innovation —will be added in subsequent years. Each publisher may submit only one application per year, in a single category. Publishers applying for an award do not need to be affiliated with an LPC member institution. 

Award recipients will be publicly recognized by the Library Publishing Coalition and will receive a digital seal that they may place on their website and on the representative publication. Awardees will also share their publication process with the wider library publishing community through a post on the LPC Blog, adapted from the essay accompanying their application.

The deadline for application has been extended to January 31, 2022.

Application Materials

Applications will include a link to the representative published work and a short essay describing the process the publisher undertook to produce an exemplary publication in the category.

    Essay guidelines

• Language: Application materials must be submitted in English, although fluency of composition in English is not a judging criteria.
• Length: The preferred essay length is 500-750 words, with a maximum length of 1000 words.
• Format: The explanatory narrative will describe the publishing process for this publication, and explain considerations addressed that relate to the award category. Describe in what ways the representative publication is exemplary of publishing practices that address the category goals as described in LPC’s An Ethical Framework for Library Publishing and/or in the LPC’s Values statement. Describe how the final publication achieved the goals set out by the authors and editors. Highlight any novel techniques or workflows used to accomplish these category goals. 

    Representative publication eligibility

• Date: May have been published at any time within the five years preceding the year of the award (i.e. 2017–2021 for the 2022 awards).
• Format: “Publication” is broadly defined and includes any work that fits the definition of publishing laid out by the Library Publishing Coalition: “Generally, library publishing requires a production process, presents original work not previously made available, and applies a level of certification to the content published, whether through peer review or extension of the institutional brand.”
• Language: May have been published in any language.
• Open Access: Must be published in a format that is freely available online at the time of submission.
• Peer Review: Given the broad definition of “publication” in this process, submitted works need not have undergone traditional peer review.

Applications should be submitted via the application form by January 31, 2022.

Evaluation Guidelines and Category Descriptions 

Each category will be evaluated separately. Applicants may address other categories in their submitted essay, but the publication and essay will be evaluated only according to the evaluation guidelines for the selected category.

The LPC Publishing Practice Award Committee will oversee evaluation of submissions. Submissions for each category will be evaluated by a panel consisting of Committee members and independent judges selected by the Committee based on their expertise in that category.

Below are descriptions of this year’s categories with example approaches. The examples are meant to inspire, not to be prescriptive or all-inclusive.

Accessibility

Accessibility practice acknowledges that many readers experience some degree of print disability. A reader with visual disabilities, dyslexia, or motor disabilities can have their ability to read seriously impacted. The application narrative for this award category should address how the design and composition of the publication was adapted so that it can be accessed, understood and used to the greatest extent possible by all people, regardless of their age, background, disability, or any other identifying characteristics. Work in this area may make creative use of open access principles, but open access alone does not create inclusive or equitable access. The application should describe how and when attention to accessibility was incorporated into the publication process. We are especially interested in processes and publications that push the boundaries of accessibility practice. We also encourage submissions of publications that follow current accepted accessibility standards. Example approaches to accessibility practice: 

• Following existing accessibility standards for published content
• Innovating new approaches to accessibility for published content
• Integrating accessibility practices into the publishing process

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)

DEI initiatives in publishing aim to address the current predominance of limited diversity in content and personnel. The application narrative should address how diversity, equity, and inclusion considerations were incorporated into the publication process. This includes approaches, content,  activities, or policies which demonstrably increase equity between the historically centered and the historically marginalized, provide inclusive access to a traditionally exclusive space, or increase the diversity of the publishing program. Example approaches to DEI practice: 

• Providing equitable opportunities for participation by authors and/or editors of diverse backgrounds
• Expanding representation of geography, culture, and/or language in the scholarly record 
• Managing the review process so as to demonstrate a commitment to diversity, transparency, and inclusivity in scholarly communication .

Privacy

Privacy concerns focus on the collection or harvesting of data about individuals and how that data is managed and used. The application narrative should address how the publisher protects the privacy of its users. As the Ethical Framework states, "[p]atron privacy is a cornerstone of library practice." Acknowledging that there may be a tension between the need for assessment and usage metrics with the need for reader privacy, the library publisher might demonstrate policies in place for balancing these needs, or provide evidence of privacy-related practice in effect for the production stages of the publication (beyond  traditional review anonymity). Examples of ways a publisher could demonstrate attention to privacy in its publishing practice:

• Presenting an easy to find privacy policy in simple, transparent language that explains how usage data is collected for authors, editors, and reviewers, and how that information is used.
• Thoughtfully selecting and configuring analytics services to balance the need for data with reader privacy. 
• Providing users with control over what kinds of data are collected about them.
• Identifying violations of privacy in standard publishing practices, and implementing privacy-saving alternatives.

On behalf of the LPC PPA Committee,