Outsourcing academia: How freelancers facilitate the scholarly publishing process

This report analyzes the use of freelancers in the scholarly production process at UBC Press. It examines rationales of finance, efficiency, and the ability to add value to scholarly books as the primary reasons behind the use of freelancers. Section one contains the report's organizational and analytical framework and background information on publication processes unique to a scholarly press. Section two introduces UBC Press's production department and examines its current concerns pertaining to freelancers. Section three analyzes the Press's financial reasoning behind their use. Section four examines how freelancers lend efficiency to the production process and emphasizes how they figure within it. Section five determines how the Press's use of freelancers adds value to this same production process. Section six questions whether more Canadian university presses are using freelancers and examines the skills of UBC Press freelancers. Section eight offers conclusions and suggestions concerning the Press's future use of freelancers.