Helsinki University Press

Helsinki University Press (HUP) is an open-access university press that publishes peer-reviewed academic literature, including books and journals, across all scholarly disciplines, with a particular focus on the humanities and social sciences.

In addition, the press provides professional publishing services to the academic community and serves as a channel for publishing and disseminating research outputs.

Helsinki University Press (HUP) is an initiative of the University of Helsinki, managed by the Helsinki University Library, which provides editorial leadership and oversight.

The press has an international Academic Board that ensures the quality and integrity of the publishing process, and it collaborates with open access networks and associations such as AEUP, ALPSP, and OASPA.

Helsinki University Press (HUP) was established in 2020 with the aim of making academic research available to a global audience without economic barriers, promoting the dissemination of knowledge through open access and strengthening editorial quality within the university environment.

Its creation responds to the challenge posed by paywalls and inequalities in access to scholarly literature, particularly in the humanities and social sciences. Through a sustainable, high-quality publishing model, HUP seeks to provide researchers with a professional, transparent, and ethical channel for publishing their work in open access.

The initiative is implemented through a rigorous peer-review system, professional editorial services (including language editing, design, indexing, and international dissemination), and a collegial academic governance structure. In addition, it promotes international cooperation and exchange among universities and scholarly communities.

Overall, HUP contributes to the objectives of open science by ensuring integrity, sustainability, and equity in scholarly communication.

In the first instance, authors are the primary beneficiaries, as publishing in open access leads to greater use, visibility, and impact of their publications. In addition, they receive support and services for publishing their work in open access, such as copyediting and the indexing of their publications.

Secondly, the scholarly community as a whole benefits from the increased availability of open access research outputs, thereby improving access to knowledge.

Since its establishment, HUP has consolidated a high-quality open access publishing model. Between 2020 and 2024, it published 36 books and three peer-reviewed scholarly journals, with authors from more than 40 countries and 120 institutions.

During this period, HUP books were downloaded over 258,000 times in 208 countries, and articles published in its journals exceeded 735,000 views. The publications are indexed in databases such as JSTOR, OAPEN, EBSCO, Scopus, and Web of Science, increasing their visibility and academic recognition.

These results demonstrate a direct impact on the international dissemination of research and a cross-cutting effect on the democratization of access to knowledge, in line with the principles of open science.

The main challenge facing HUP is to ensure the economic sustainability of its open access model without transferring costs to authors. In addition, it faces the challenge of maintaining international visibility and consolidating its position in a competitive publishing environment, as it is still a relatively young press founded in 2020.

Los resultados obtenidos por HUP confirman el éxito de un modelo universitario de publicación científica totalmente abierto, sostenible y de alta calidad. En pocos años, la editorial ha logrado posicionarse internacionalmente, consolidando su reputación entre autores e instituciones y demostrando que la publicación académica en abierto puede mantener estándares editoriales equivalentes o superiores a los de las grandes editoriales comerciales.

Su modelo de gobernanza —basado en la supervisión de una Junta Académica internacional, revisión por pares rigurosa y servicios editoriales profesionales— garantiza la calidad y la integridad del proceso de publicación.

La experiencia de HUP es transferible a otras universidades interesadas en crear editoriales institucionales abiertas, ofreciendo un ejemplo práctico de cómo combinar excelencia académica, accesibilidad global y sostenibilidad económica en el marco de la ciencia abierta.

• About Helsinki University Press: https://hup.fi/site/about/