Video Journal of Embodied Research to Launch on OLH Platform

We are extremely pleased to announce that the new Journal of Embodied Research is to launch on the Open Library of Humanities platform. This will be the first peer reviewed video essay journal to be published for a broad scholarly readership.

The editorial advisory board is led by a leading early career researcher Dr Ben Spatz, Senior Lecturer in Drama, Theatre and Performance at the University of Huddersfield, and the journal aims to publish up to 15 video-essay articles per year. One external peer reviewer for the journal's application noted that the “need for a peer-reviewed international publication on this topic is urgent. Video essay as the form of the article is a justifiable, thoroughly thought through and technologically realistic solution. It is a welcomed methodological innovation”.

Professor Martin Paul Eve, a co-founder and CEO of the OLH, said of this journal: “The priority for the Open Library of Humanities is to flip subscription journals to an open-access model. However, the case for a journal that made such a radical experiment in terms of video form made the Journal of Embodied Research irresistible. We are only on the cusp of exploring what is possible within born-digital formats, but the Journal of Embodied Research will begin to show researchers new ways and possibilities for disseminating their work.”

Dr Caroline Edwards, co-founder and Editorial Director of the OLH, added: "The Journal of Embodied Research offers the OLH the chance to produce a truly cutting-edge bridging between scholarship and videography; something that responds to a pressing need among scholars and practitioners for a prestigious journal in this exciting and dynamic field. JER will be relevant to a wide number of disciplines, including Theatre, Dance & Performance Studies, Film & Media Studies, Anthropology & Neuroanthropology, Cultural Studies, and Disability Studies, that encompass the Humanities, Medicine, Arts, and Sports Science, as well as professional Performing Arts practice and Expressive Arts Therapies."

Editor Ben Spatz said: “I am thrilled to be working with Open Library of the Humanities on this project. OLH’s consortium model for open-access publishing is a tremendous achievement and I am very glad that they are supporting this venture. Now it will be up to embodied researchers in all fields to develop new ways of articulating and sharing their knowledge through the medium of the scholarly video essay.”

Sarah Whatley, Director of the Centre for Dance Research at Coventry University and member of the JER Editorial Advisory Board, added: "When Ben approached me about this new journal I knew that it would be a game changer. The journal, with its commitment to publish excellent research, foregrounding embodied knowledge transmitted through video essays, is highly novel. I look forward to supporting what I am sure will be a hugely successful journal.”

Please mark your calendars for the official JER launch event: Wednesday 8th February 2017 from 18:00 to 20:00 at the Keynes Library, Birkbeck School of Arts, London. Editor Ben Spatz, Board members Royona Mitra and Paul Bowman, and OLH Editor Caroline Edwards will say a few words about the new journal and the evolving relationship between embodied research and scholarly video. Wine and refreshments will be served.

CLICK HERE TO BOOK YOUR FREE PLACE AT THE LAUNCH PARTY. 

The Open Library of Humanities is an academic-led, gold open-access publisher with no author-facing charges. With funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the platform covers its costs by payments from an international library consortium, rather than any kind of author fee. 

Existing journals wishing to move to the platform should submit an initial enquiry to martin.eve@openlibhums.org. Libraries outside the US and UK interested in joining the OLH Library Partnership Subsidy model should contact Dr. Martin Paul Eve: martin.eve@openlibhums.org. UK-based libraries can join through Jisc Collections at http://www.jisc-collections.ac.uk/Catalogue/Overview/Index/2120. US-based libraries can join through LYRASIS at https://lyrasis.openlibhums.org. European libraries can join here: http://lps.openlibhums.org/ or send an enquiry to our European Library Partnership Manager: saskia.devries@openlibhums.org.