University of Groningen Press published “Working with LGBTQIA+ youth in the child welfare system” edited by Mónica López López (Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences, BSS), Rodrigo González Álvarez (BSS), Mijntje ten Brummelaar (BSS), Kevin R.O. van Mierlo and Leo Wieldraaijer-Vincent. 

Written through a constant exchange between LGBTQIA+ young people, researchers, professionals and foster families, the book offers a valuable tool to improve the practice with LGBTQIA+ youth at a personal, organizational, and policy level.

It is available open access and as print-on-demand, with also a Spanish translation forthcoming.

In this interview, editor and author Dr Mónica López López describes her motivation and experience with publishing an academic open access book.

Why did you decide to publish an open access book? 

This book is the product of a participatory study focused on the needs and experiences of LGBTQIA+ youth in out-of-home care in the Netherlands. Despite being an overrepresented group in out-of-home care interventions, such as residential or foster care, there is a dearth of knowledge about how LGBTQIA+ youth navigate the care settings. However, as soon as we kicked off our project, we realised that there was a lot of interest from professionals and policy makers. We received many questions about how to make the care interventions more inclusive and affirmative. And we felt a great responsibility to transfer the knowledge produced with this research project to the practice field. We were aware that journal articles, even when published open access, are not always the most accessible outside the academy. So very early in the process we started looking for opportunities to publish a book that could be accessed easily for a wider audience in order to ensure our impact on the practice world.

Was publishing the book open access a unanimous decision by all editors? 

Definitely! The editorial team includes academics, professionals and care-experienced people, and all of us could see different benefits of publishing our book open access. Some team members prioritised the opportunity for citations and wider usage, while others focused on the possibility of reaching more diverse audiences. 

Why did you publish with UGP? Did you consider other publishers, too?

Having experience working with bigger publishing houses, we did consider several options before committing to UGP. Two things tipped the balance in favour of UGP: the close support and guidance offered, and the fast timeline proposed. We felt the UGP team was really working with us. And they shared our enthusiasm for the project too.

How did you experience the process of publishing an open access book? What support did you get from UGP?

This was the easiest and shortest book publication process I have experienced in my academic life. The UGP team gave us a wide range of options and advice regarding digital (ePUB) and printed publishing, copyright and best channels for exposure. They always tried to adapt to our needs and schedules. We felt accompanied by a very competent and friendly team throughout the whole publication process.

Why did you decide to also publish the book for print on demand, next to the open access version?

Although our dissemination strategy focuses on online platforms, we thought that it was important to have some printed copies of the book. Many of our contributors are care-experienced young people whose stories have shaped the knowledge produced within this project. They simply deserve to see their names printed in a hard copy.

You are currently preparing a Spanish translation of the book. How did that come about?

Shortly after the publication of this book, a government agency in Spain reached out to us asking if we had a Spanish version of the book. We did not have this, but we suggested to produce a briefing in Spanish. Their next email included a version of our own book translated into Spanish with a very clear instruction: Now you have a Spanish version. You just have to review it and publish it. So I would say that by popular demand... there will be a Spanish version very soon! 

Fun fact: this government agency has now hired us to replicate the research project in Spain.   

More information:

The University of Groningen Press supports editors and authors affiliated with the University of Groningen in starting and publishing digital academic journals or books. The preferred publishing model is open access.

• Download the book as PDF or EPUB
• University of Groningen Press