Information, Medium & Society: Twenty-second International Conference on Publishing Studies

Abstract

Publishing is an integral part of the University’s activity, as the book is a fundamental tool for the exercise of its triple function: education, research, and transfer. In Spain, the publishing production of the universities has been growing very significantly in the last half century, representing up to 7% of national book production and 10% of the living stock. Together, the publishers integrated into the Union of Spanish University Publishers (UNE) represent the first publishing group in the country. This growth has not occurred in parallel with an adequate assessment of the publishing production of universities. To address this situation, the UNE began a campaign that made it possible to eliminate this prejudice in official regulations and, at the same time, promoted a unique experience to guarantee and accredit the editorial quality of books published by universities. The CEA-APQ seal, launched in 2016 by the UNE in collaboration with the National Evaluation and Accreditation Agency (Aneca) and the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (Fecyt), has become an instrument that endorses the editorial quality of the book collections has been distinguished and, at the same time, it has been configured as a reference guide for university publishers that aspire to improve their prestige. This paper analyzes the entire process of creating this publishing label and its results in the four calls that have been carried out since its creation.