Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) Press has achieved another important milestone in the international publishing arena. Not only a leading publishing house in various fiction categories, HBKU Press continues to maintain a formidable presence in the academic publishing sector.

This year, HBKU Press was selected to present its unique project titled “Scholarly Content Transformation from Submission to Publishing'' at the highly esteemed Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association (OASPA). The annual conference is exceptionally selective and marked a significant feat for HBKU Press, which was the only publishing entity from the MENA region present.

The OASPA is a diverse community of organizations engaged in open scholarship. Membership in the association encompasses scholarly as well as professional publishers of books and journals across various contexts of geography and discipline. It is globally renowned as a leading organizer of open-access stakeholders and a critical venue for productive collaboration. The association aims to establish open-access publishing as the preferred model for scholarly projects through a holistic program of development.

The project was presented by HBKU Press’s Head of Academic and Journals Publishing, Dr. Rima Isaifan, in September. It discussed the lifecycle of thesis to article transformations, presenting challenges typical in academic publishing and proposed innovative solutions with projected outcomes. It also shared HBKU Press’s own development from its inception as the first open access academic publisher in Qatar, to the robust publishing house it is today.

“HBKU Press’s first participation in the OASPA Annual Conference this year marks a milestone, and ascertains that our publishing press is among the top publishers globally following the open access publishing standards,” Dr. Isaifan explains. “Each year, hundreds of participants submit their contributions, but only a limited number of projects are accepted to present. It is a privilege to share the outcomes of this unique project to the world through OASPA’s annual conference platform.”

Open scholarship is an integral component to knowledge sharing and development. Advancing open access ensures diverse, vibrant, and thoughtful discourse and solution finding to a variety of difficult questions and concepts. Contributing to a healthy open access community exemplifies HBKU Press’s commitment to scholarly research and dissemination. In passing the OASPA’s rigorous criteria standards to present at the conference, HBKU Press continues to establish itself as a leading international publisher in the literary world.