Books and academic editorials according to brazilian researchers in social sciences and humanities

Abstract

This study aims to know the habits and assessments of researchers in Social Sciences and Humanities of Brazil in relation to scientific publications and especially on academic books. Thus, there are several aspects that are addressed: their publishing habits; their opinions on the book format as a means of communication, and their assessments of academic publishers based on their experience. Other specific issues of the monographs that are addressed are the payment to be published, university publishers, and open access. In this case, the data compilation has been based on a survey sent to Brazilian coordinators of Social Sciences and Humanities research groups (16,542 researchers). The response rate was of 12% (1,977 researchers). The analysis of the answers received stand out the value that these academics grant to the book as a scientific publication and identifies the weaknesses of the Brazilian academic sector: the lack of transparency in editorial processes, financing, and distribution. In certain cases, the prestige of publishers, and their rigor and transparency were positively evaluated.