London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine’s Library, Archive & Open Research Services (LAORS) team were praised for going above and beyond to make research more accessible as they won a Times Higher Education award.

Judges awarding the 2023 Outstanding Library Team honour singled out their achievements around open access research, including creating the LSHTM Press publishing platform, as an example other universities could follow.

LSHTM Press was set up in 2022 to provide an inclusive open access platform for global health researchers to publish peer-reviewed research and high-quality educational resources. In the same year, LSHTM was ranked top university in the world for publishing open access research in the 2022 CWTS Leiden Ranking. Earlier this year, LSHTM Press published a Statement of Intent setting out their commitment to fairer and more equitable publishing.

Staff in Library, Archive & Open Research Services at LSHTM have been key to success in this area, driving forward initiatives such as LSHTM Press, and supporting researchers to navigate developments in open access publishing. They held workshops and training with academic staff and administrators to answer questions on funder policies, and collaborated with colleagues in other departments to offer expertise and insights on open access research.

David Archer, Director of LAORS at LSHTM, said: “I’m thrilled that our team has been recognised in this way. They are extremely dedicated and passionate about making research as accessible and inclusive as possible. It’s not an easy task with many changes and complexities involved in the publishing landscape. I am proud that LSHTM, and all of us in LAORS, are striving to enable authors to publish their research as openly as possible, boosting the impact of research by reaching people who need to know what scientists around the world have discovered.”

The Times Higher Education judges said: “Its open access press shows a demonstrable commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion for authors and researchers. This excellent approach would be replicable elsewhere in the sector.”