Part of
Kriterium is a platform for the review, publication and dissemination of high-quality academic books. Kriterium is a way of awarding a quality label to academic research, with a certification that ensures and shows that a scientific publication has undergone a controlled and documented peer review process. Books with the Kriterium label are also made freely available online.
Kriterium is a collaborative venture between Swedish universities, Swedish publishers and the National Library of Sweden with representatives from the Swedish Research Council and Riksbankens Jubileumsfond.
The Kriterium portal is open to academic research from all institutions of higher education and independent scholars. Kriterium is primarily intended for research and researchers with a Swedish connection, and will thus uphold the tradition of academic books published in Sweden.
------------------------------
Read the article about Kriterium
"Ensuring Quality and Status: Peer Review Practices in Kriterium, A Portal for Quality-Marked Monographs and Edited Volumes in Swedish SSH"
written by Björn Hammarfelt, Isak Hammar and Helena Francke. The authors
find Kriterium
to be an interesting case for several reasons,
including the fact that it acts as an independent platform with the
specific role of providing peer review. Moreover, the portal has been
developed bottom-up based on a need identified by Swedish scholars in
the social sciences and humanities. Finally, Kriterium’s model for peer
review has certain unique and innovative features, which we believe are
of interest to an international audience.
Download two evaluation reports on Kriterium's pilot programme 2015-2017: Isak Hammar's Kriterium: Experiences from the Pilot Phase and Helena Francke's Kriterium Evaluation: Pilot Project.
Fanny Ambjörnsson, Gender Studies scholar and social anthropologist at Stockholm University, had her study Tid att städa: Om vardagsstädningens praktik och politik (Ordfront förlag) undergo the Kriterium review.
Why did you choose to work with Kriterium?
It was the only way I could write a monograph in Swedish at my publisher (Ordfront), while also getting it approved as "real" science (which means, among other things, that the book will count towards the university's internal distribution of research grants for the faculty). So, I chose to work with Kriterium for mainly strategic reasons.
How long did the review take and what's your impression of the process?
The review took about three months and it worked really well. I had a most professional and efficient academic co-ordinator, who handled the process outstandingly and helped me sort through the feedback of the two anonymous reviewers, which differed quite considerably from one another. It was surprisingly helpful (and a real treat) to the work process, to have the readings and comments of two completely independent scholars during the final stages of writing.
Would you recommend Kriterium to other scholars?
Yes,
definitely. It's vital that we create the opportunity to write both in
Swedish and in monograph form within the framework of scholarly
publication.
Martin Dackling, historian at Gothenburg University, had his study Istället för äktenskap: Att driva jordbruk tillsammans med syskon i 1900-talets Sverige (Nordic Academic Press) undergo the Kriterium review.
Why did you choose to work with Kriterium?
The
book was a real effort to write, and I wanted it to have the mark of
quality of a thorough peer review. I also valued the opportunity to
receive critical feedback regarding the contents before the final
editing process.
How long did the review take and what's your impression of the process?
All
in all, four months from submitting the manuscript until it passed
muster, which includes the time I spent on my own final editing. The
review process worked well and I received some really useful feedback on
my text.
Would you recommend Kriterium to other scholars?
I'd recommend Kriterium, since it is an opportunity to have books reviewed in a process similar to that used for scholarly articles. This spells a brighter future for the scholarly monograph.