Kriterium - Peer Reviewed Open Access Books

Kriterium provides an infrastructure for the review of high-quality scholarly monographs aimed primarily at academia readers. Kriterium is a collaboration between universities, publishers and  the National Library of Sweden and supported by research funders The Swedish Research Council  (Vetenskapsrådet) och Riksbankens Jubileumsfond (JR).

What does Kriterium publish?

Kriterium accepts and reviews research results intended for publication as a monograph, from any seats of learning, and any publisher. The main target group includes researchers and research associated with Sweden. About 10-15 monographs are published each year.

What does Kriterium offer?

• Open access: makes it possible for you to easily meet the demand for open access and provides the digital version of the book trough open access.
• Peer review: contributes to the qualities of the book by academic evaluation (peer review) and helping with a structured, transparent review process before publication.
• Publication platform: provides a central publication platform for the digital version of the book through the Kriterium webpage and other platforms such as: OAPEN, DOAB and JSTOR

What is Kriterium - and not?

Kriterium is not a publishing house in its own right, therefore the manuscript must have another publisher. The book will then be formally published both as part of the series issued by the publishing house, and by Kriterium.

Publishers that has Kriterium´s titles are: Appell förlag, Arkiv förlag, Bokförlaget Atlas, Makadam, Nordic Academic Press, Ordfront förlag, Stockholmia förlag and as well as university series Absalon Språk- och litteraturcentrum, Lunds universitet, Acta Universitatis Gothoburgensis, Gävle University Press, Karlstad University Press, Södertörn University Press samt Kungl. Skytteanska Samfundets skriftserie: Kungl. Skytteanska Samfundets Handlingar - Acta Regiae Societatis Skytteanae vid Umeå universitet.

What does the publisher do?

• Contact: If  you as an author of an academic book advertises their interest in having a work reviewed in Kriterium, the publisher will initiate the contact with Kriterium.
• Suggesting the Academic co-ordinator: the person appointing independent reviewers with Kriterium and consulting with the author through the review process.
• All practical work: layout, proofreading, printing (if the book is published in printed form), distribution and marketing.
• If a manuscript is not accepted by Kriterium: the series or publishing house can still publish the book without Kriterium.

How does it work?

• The author contacts a publisher, which can be either a publication series or a publishing house.
• The author (or the book editor, in case the book is an anthology) decides whether the manuscript should be submitted to Kriterium for review, in co-operation with the editor’s series or its publishing house.
• Manuscripts do not need to be fully completed before being submitted to Kriterium.
• The publisher makes contact with Kriterium.
• Publishers or publishing houses that apply for review and publication of a manuscript within the Kriterium framework should suggest an Academic co-ordinator, to be approved in turn by the Kriterium editorial board.
• If the academic review board gives the go-ahead, the Academic co-ordinator, in consultation with the Kriterium academic review board, appoints two mutually independent reviewers with expertise in the relevant field.
• The review is carried out as a double- or single-blind one, where they recommend either major or minor revisions to the manuscript, or indicate its unsuitability for publication. When necessary, there can be several rounds of review. More about the peer review  process
• When reviews are completed, the author implements changes to the manuscript in consultation with the Academic coordinator.
• When reviews are completed, the author implements changes to the manuscrip tin consultation with the academic coordinator.

How long does it take?

The review process might vary depending of how many revisions, but the objective is for the review process to take no more than 3 months, added to the overall production time of the book.

What about costs?

If a publication is accepted, then Kriterium is currently furnishing all costs associated with reimbursement:

• of reviewers and academic coordinators
• the production and publication of the electronic version of the book