Academic book: Between academic community and publishing market

Abstract

The aim of the article is to present academic book as a research subject at the intersection of sociological research on higher education and analyses of the book market. Academic book has been for many years the number one item on the publishing market as far as the first editions go, nevertheless its significance for the market is deemed minor. At the same time academic monograph, for many years considered, at least in the field of social sciences and humanities, as a “golden standard” of academic work, a criterion for the distribution of academic prestige, experiences the change of its function as an effect of the reforms of the higher education system in Poland aimed rather at valorising articles published in prestigious journals (especially those with IF) and open-access publications, as well as an effect of the ongoing technological change concerning the production and distribution of text. An analysis of these processes that takes into consideration the interests of main actors (researchers, publishers, librarian, booksellers, readers, and also political decision makers and experts responsible for the policies regarding science and higher education), the institutional infrastructure can thus have not only a theoretical value, but can also contribute to the discussion on the role of academic publishers and the significance of academic monograph in the context of future reforms of the higher education system.