Rice University in the US has announced its decision to close its digital academic press, the Rice University Press (RUP). The Press will stop receiving university funding at the end of the month. The decision to cut RUP's funding, which has consisted of $150,000-$200,000 a year since its revival as a digital press in 2006, came after a report by a group of consultants said that RUP would require significantly more funds in order for it to achieve its original goal of being a leading digital university press.
RUP was initially shut down in 1996 but was then brought back in 2006 as an all-digital press. Publications were published through Rice's Connexions project and could be accessed digitally for free, but bound copies could also be purchased. Former Provost Eugene Levy said that although RUP was never intended to make a profit, the publications that had so far been put forward by RUP had not really attracted a market.
According to the report submitted by the group of consultants, RUP could not continue to function in the same fashion as it had if it were to make an impact as a university press. However, the report did propose an alternative option - to put RUP in the hands of the School of Humanities at the Humanities Research Center. According to Levy, even that would have required the funding to be approximately doubled.
Throughout its four digital years, RUP had a single paid contract employee, Editor in Chief Fred Moody, who worked off campus in Washington. Moody said his responsibilities included editing all manuscripts, overseeing web and print production, arranging for peer review of publications and generally orchestrating the operation of the press. According to Moody, the business model for RUP called for it to build up a repertoire of titles which would then sell hard copies indefinitely.
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