The American Anthropological Association (AAA) today renewed its agreement with Wiley Publishing, a leader in research and education with offices across the globe. The agreement continues a 15-year partnership that began in 2007.
Wiley will continue to host AAA’s portfolio of 20+ anthropology journals, including American Anthropologist, the association’s flagship publication as well as AnthroSource, AAA’s online portal. AnthroSource is the premier database of full-text anthropology articles, serving the research and teaching needs of scholars and practitioners in the United States and around the world.
The new agreement offers seamless access to AAA members, streamlined production processes, resources for journal editors (including ScholarOne access), and a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well as accessible content. Wiley will also provide an array of technological innovations and enhancements, including support for smart templates, smart editing tools, subject keyword taxonomy, and shift from page-centric design.
During a year-long process, AAA received input from many sources, including the Publishing Futures Committee and the Executive Board to review the requirements for the new agreement, draft a Request for Proposals (RFP), and identify qualified publishers.
The proposals received were evaluated based on criteria that included their strategic alignment with AAA, the editorial support offered, production resources, publication management, and sales/marketing capabilities. “Wiley best aligned with the core values of the AAA’s publishing program – quality, breadth, accessibility, equity, and sustainability,” said AAA Executive Director Ed Liebow.
Careful consideration was given with an understanding that moving toward more open access content is the long-term goal. “Wiley’s ambitious roadmap for increasing its transitional deals will open more content while assuring the resources are there to adequately support high quality scholarship across the breadth of anthropology’s disciplinary terrain,” according to Liebow. Open access to the Association’s publications remains available to tribal colleges, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and Palestinian institutions of higher education. Cultural Anthropology is freely available worldwide and subsidized by the partnership agreement. The Open Anthropology Research Repository is an open gateway to scholarship and related research materials in any language and many file formats.
“We are delighted to continue our long-standing partnership with the AAA,” said Allyn Molina, Group VP of Editorial Management at Wiley. “Wiley supports the AAA’s mission to advance anthropology, to foster a shared understanding of the world and its peoples, and to solve human challenges by studying all aspects of humankind. AAA is a valued publishing partner who understands the need for publishing models to evolve and move forward, and the AAA’s scholarly outputs are an integral component of Wiley’s publishing program in the social sciences.”