January, 2026
University Press Publishing for Ukraine: Policy and Practice
October, 2024
November 17, 2025
UK-Ukraine Twinning Initiative
Byron Russell and Frances Pinter presented the activities of SUPRR at a one-day conference and reception hosted by the UK-Ukrainian Twinning Initiative at Birkbeck University in London on the 13th of November. It marked the end of Ukrainian Culture Week in the UK with an in-person speech by the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Andrii Sybiha.
October, 2024
October 1, 2025
Scholarly Kitchen: Taxonomy of Delegation: How GAIDeT Reframes AI Transparency in Science, an Interview with Yana Suchikova
In the article for The Scholarly Kitchen, Frances Pinter, SUPRR Founder interviews Professor Yana Suchikova, Vice-Rector for Research at Berdyansk State Pedagogical University on the Generative AI Delegation Taxonomy, which enables researchers to disclose the use of generative AI in an honest and transparent way.
“AI transparency is not about shame; it’s about intellectual honesty. GAIDeT was created to help researchers clearly describe any assistance they received from AI during research or publication. It maps the research and publishing process into macro-level stages (e.g., literature review, data processing, writing) and micro-level tasks (e.g., coding, translation, proofreading, editing, drafting conclusions). Authors simply indicate at which stage AI was used and for what task. This way, the declaration makes it clear that AI functioned as a research instrument, not as an autonomous author.”
To read the full interview please follow the link.
June, 2025
Kyiv Book Arsenal 2025: Academic Program
Last week SUPRR was delighted to be a part of Kyiv Book Arsenal, the annual book festival in Ukraine. SUPRR shared its stand with Ukrainian academic presses and it was the first time that Book Arsenal had an academic program. Represetatives of Taras Shevchenko National University facilitated networking events with a number of academic presses from all across Ukraine.
The stand also hosted a brand new digital texbook, open education resource, ‘Ukraine as a Migration Nexus’ edited by Oleksiy Chebotariov and Viktoria Sereda, supported by the Open Society University Network and published by CEU Press.
SUPRR co-organized a discussion for the main program of the festival together with Library Country, and Radio NV on ‘Stealing, appropriation and destruction by Russians of Ukrainian academic heritage, museum collections, and libraries’.
Frances Pinter, the founder of SUPRR and Director of Academic Relations at the Central European University Press spoke about the successful case of controlling ISSNs on the temporary occupied territories of Ukraine.
Picture 1: SUPRR stand
Picture 2: Frances Pinter, SUPRR with Volodymyr Bugrov, Rector of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv
Picture 3: Discussion ‘Stealing, appropriation and destruction by Russians of Ukrainian academic heritage, museum collections, and libraries’
Picture 4: Representatives of Ukrainian academic presses
April 3, 2025
Misuse of ISSNs Threaten Academic Integrity - Press Release
Threats to the foundations of academic publishing – and the research integrity on which scholarship depends – can be found in unexpected places, even in war zones. Press release:
A pressing issue in Ukraine is that publications in the temporarily occupied territories by Russia are unjustifiably using the ISSNs of Ukrainian journals originally founded by displaced Ukrainian higher education institutions, or obtaining entirely new ISSNs while falsely claiming to be the legal successors of these publication.
These ISSN identifiers enable illegitimate journals to integrate into international databases within the global academic community, posing a significant risk of spreading propaganda and disinformation. Collaboration with such journals could be seen as legitimising the occupying regime, which is unacceptable under international law, as emphasised by both the UN and the EU.
Under normal circumstances, a national ISSN Centre has sole responsibility for assigning ISSNs to serials and continuing resources published within its jurisdiction. This is in accordance with international law, the international standards and agreements with the ISSN International Centre. However, in cases where there is no national ISSN centre – such as occupied or disputed territories, countries not officially recognised by the United Nations or those without an ISO country code – the International Centre assumes responsibility for assigning ISSNs. The Ukrainian national ISSN Centre does not and will not provide any ISSN services to entities operating in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.
In occupied and/or disputed territories and other conflict zones, the International Centre applies special measures to ensure fairness and consistency in the administration of ISSN assignments.
Having brought the issue to the attention of the International Centre, we were delighted with the reception and willingness to engage in finding a technical solution to identify which journals were which. Finding the solution was not easy, but they succeeded.
The search for a comprehensive technical solution at the international and national levels required cooperation on the part of the International Centre and, on the Ukrainian side, the national ISSN Agency and the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, with active engagement from EASE Ukraine and SUPRR. Now the actual source of each journal will be visible to all.
Jan-Peter Wissink, Managing Director of Amsterdam University Press, home of the SUPRR initiative, said:
“I can only reiterate the words of Denys Kurbatov, Ukrainian Deputy Minister for Science and Education when he said “This issue undoubtedly goes beyond Ukraine — it concerns preserving global trust in academic systems. We call on researchers, publishers, and indexing organizations to support these initiatives and remain vigilant against actions that undermine or may discredit the foundations of academic publishing and international law.”
Iryna Pogorelovska of the national ISSN Centre of Ukraine, said:
“Thanks to the International ISSN Centre’s understanding of the situation a solution was found and reflected in the relevant updated document.”
Iryna Izarova, Chair of the Ukrainian Regional Chapter of the European Association of Science Editors, said:
“This is the first case of actively protecting the rights of Ukrainian publications. Moreover, this issue has global implications for other regions affected by war, aggression, or conflict.”
Frances Pinter, founder of SUPRR, said:
“We thank the ISSN International Centre for its attention to the matter and we call on the international academic and political communities to recognize these challenges and support efforts to restore and protect Ukrainian science, ensuring Ukrainian scholars’ contributions to global knowledge.”
Notes to Editor
For further questions, please contact Frances Pinter frances@pinter.org.uk
Press Release in Ukrainian Misuse of Ukrainian ISSNs Press Release_Ukrainian
October, 2024
March 18, 2025
SUPRR at the London Book Fair
SUPRR repeated its ‘speed-dating’ programme for Ukrainian publishers with foreign publishers and consultants after its success in Frankfurt last year. There were new faces on both sides but with similar sentiments around the value and pleasure of such personal contacts. Perennial subjects such as copyright and licensing were discussed with Lynette Owen and a new offer of insights on AI and publishing was brought into the discussion by George Walkley. Further conversations with companies that provide services to the publishing, bookselling and library sectors were held with new offers of webinars for Ukrainian publishers.
A separate meeting was held with José Borghino, Secretary General of the International Publishers Association and Professor Iryna Izarova, on the matter of the ‘stolen journals’ from the temporarily occupied territories; the copyright violations, abuse of ISSNs and threats to the integrity of academic publishing that such violations create.
October, 2024
February 26, 2025
Scholarly Kitchen: Challenges in Academic Publishing Amid War: ISSN Issues in Ukraine Threaten Research Integrity
On February 26, 2025 Scholarly Kitchen published an interview of Dr. Frances Pinter of Amsterdam University Press and SUPRR with Iryna Izarova, Chair of the Ukrainian Regional Chapter of the European Association of Science Editors (EASE), and Denys Kurbatov, Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine.
They raise issues related to the violation of the rights of Ukrainian academic journals and authors since 2014 when Russia first occupied Ukraine’s territories.
Read the interview to find out how this impacts the academic community, and measures taken to address this.
‘I’m very pleased that we, at SUPRR, were able to help shed light on what is nothing less than a serious attack on the integrity of scholarly communications.’ – Dr. Frances Pinter.
To read the full interview please follow the link.
October, 2024
November 13, 2024
Scholarly Kitchen: Driving Change in Ukrainian Scholarly Publishing: An Interview with Ganna Kharlamova
The Scholarly Kitchen published an interview of Ganna Kharlamova, conducted by Frances Pinter. Ganna is Professor in the Department of Economic Cybernetics, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. She is also Director of the Coordination Center for the Publishing of Scientific Journals and Deputy Head of the Ukrainian Regional Chapter of the European Association of Science Editors (EASE). Frances is Director of Academic Relations at Central European University Press and Amsterdam University Press, and SUPRR founder.
Ganna speaks about how their Center operates in Ukraine, which priorities they set and steps they take to improve and drive research and academic publishing in Ukraine.
“Aligning the practices of Ukrainian scholarly publications with international standards is a matter of national security. Reliable publishing practices, adherence to global standards, and participation in international cooperation are essential for economic development, technological innovation, and countering misinformation. That is why the work of the Coordination Center at TSNUK focuses on improving approaches to research integrity and academic publishing among Ukrainian scholars. This is crucial for enhancing Ukraine’s competitiveness and its successful integration into the global scientific community” – says Ganna in the interview.
To read the full interview please follow the link.
October, 2024
October, 2024
Frankfurt Book Fair 2024
At this year’s Frankfurt book fair, SUPRR organized programs for academic publishers and for general publishers from Ukraine. SUPRR brought two representatives of the Taras Shevchenko National University to the fair to open networking and capacity development opportunities.
In partnership with the Ukraine country stand and Ukraine Book Institute SUPRR conducted a’speed dating’ exercise for Ukrainian publishers with foreign publishers and consultants. The event was a part of the professional program at the stand and welcomed twelve Ukrainian publishers and eight foreign representatives. Participants got to discuss topics like licensing, children books publishing, translation programs, market diversification, and present their book titles. This opportunity comes at a critical time when Ukraine is preparing for EU accession and integration while tackling the impacts of the war.
“The expertise and advice we heard were very valuable to me and my colleagues. Such meetings are rare, yet they are usually the game changers.”
“Participating in the speed-dating program at the Frankfurt Book Fair was an invaluable experience. It not only allowed me to connect with fellow publishing professionals in a dynamic setting but also sparked inspiring conversations that could lead to exciting collaborations” – Ukrainian participants shared.
October, 2024
October 23, 2024
Webinar: Book Markets and Distribution Experiences from Poland
SUPRR together with the Polish Chamber of Books and Ukraine Book Institute organized a webinar for Ukrainian publishers Book Market and Distribution – Experiences from Poland.
The webinar is a part of a series of meetings for Ukrainian publishers on changes that the Ukrainian publishing sector might want to undertake as it falls in line with EU practices.
This time the guest speaker was Paweł Filar, founder of the largest distribution company on the Polish market PLATON. Mr Filar presented an overview of the key Polish distributors and their characteristics; terms and conditions of cooperation; exclusivity; market share and selling channels: internet bookshops, libraries, traditional book shops and their transformation, discounts; logistics solution; and the future of the book market in Poland.
Nearly fifty representative of Ukrainian publishing industry participated in the meeting and the follow-up discussion. Recording of the meeting is at this link.
October, 2024
October 9, 2024
Open Access Journals: Presentation and Discussion
Editors at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv met online with SUPRR team member Byron Russell to discuss open access models in Europe and the United States, with reference to the rationale for OA against subscription-based publishing.
Participants discussed the differences in how university press publishing is structured and funded and looked at some of the fundamentals that need addressing as Ukraine moves towards adopting more international standards.
For a longer summary of the meeting click here .
September 30, 2024
Society of Scholarly Publishing offers support to Ukrainian Publishing Community
SUPRR is pleased to announce partnership with the Society of Scholarly Publishing (SSP).
Within this partnership SSP will provide a number of resources to the scholarly publishing community in Ukraine free of charge: access to all of SSP’s OnDemand Library content; virtual access to SSP’s Webinars and Seminars (including the upcoming New Directions seminar); virtual access to SSP’s Training Programs (including the new Journals Academy).
In addition, The Scholarly Kitchen will feature guest posts from Ukrainian publishers about the state of scholarly publishing in Ukraine, current challenges, and the future they envision. The first post will be from Ganna Kharlamova, head of the Publishing Coordination Center at Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv, who is also a part of SUPRR team.
For more details please follow the link.
September, 2024
Open access book publishing: A conversation series
SUPRR in cooperation with Electronic Information for Libraries (EIFL) and the Ministry of Science and Education of Ukraine are launching a series of discussions with selected US and UK scholarly book publishers on new open access business models. The aim of the series is to explore how Ukrainian monograph publishing can move to sustainable open access (OA) practices and how such models can be used or adapted to Ukrainian circumstances.
The first two sessions will take place September 26 and October 3 and will have two speakers each covering their different approaches. All four use different combinations of business models, funding sources and support.
The third session will be on October 23 and will consist of two parts. The first will begin with additional information on the wider publishing infrastructure solutions that are emerging that facilitate the publishing of OA books. The second part will include breakout groups for Ukrainians only to reflect and discuss what would work/wouldn’t work in their contexts and strategies on advancing OA monograph publishing in Ukraine.
More details and registration links are at the documents here: UKR Announcement/Оголошення, UKR Terminology/Термінологія, ENG Announcement.
June, 2024
International Book Arsenal Festival
The last days of May and beginning of June in Kyiv were filled with publishers, booksellers, and readers. 12th International Book Arsenal Festival took place.
Frances Pinter, SUPRR attended the book fair and participated in the panel discussion The book as a form of resistance: what do people know about Ukrainian books abroad. The panel was organized by Ukrainian Book Institute which brought together Iryna Borovets of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Frances Pinter of SUPPR, Olena Odynoka of Ukrainian Book Institute, Volodymyr Sheyko of Ukrainian Institute, Tatiana Teren of PEN Ukraine, Yulia Kozlovets of Book Arsenal, Maria Shubczyk of Goethe Institute Ukraine, Olga Domanska of Ukrainian World Congress.
The panel focused on Ukraine’s participation in international book events, rediscovery of Ukrainian literature by European readers, competitiveness of Ukrainian literature on the foreign market, institutions, Ukrainian book as a tool in the information war. Frances Pinter highlighted that the Western publishing industry remains committed to support Ukrainian publishers and literature initiatives and ensured that SUPRR is a strong link in encouraging publishers to reach out for opportunities.
June, 2024
SUPRR goes to Canada
Gana Kharlamova, Iryna Izarova of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and Frances Pinter, Executive Chair of CEU Press were joined by Yuliia Hartman of East European Law Research Center at the Association for University Presses annual conference in Montreal 11-13 June. Kharlamova and Izarova were sponsored guests of the association and presented at a panel chaired by Pinter called ‘Scholarly Publishing in a War Zone’. In addition, Ivanna Cherchovych, of the Center for Urban History in Lviv contributed a short video about her Re-esources project.
The visit culminated with a panel on the needs, challenges and opportunities for university press publishing in Ukraine. During the three days many individual meetings were set up and the offers of support were many and potentially far-reaching.
Plans are now being turned into actions including substantial training programmes, services that will be provided to the Ukrainian scholarly publishing community helping them take a place in the international community of academic publishing, as well as further industry presence at, for example the Frankfurt Book Fair.The day before the conference began the team went to the McGill Queens University Library and opened up discussions with the head of Special Collections to donate a number of Ukrainian children’s books for preservation.
May, 2024
Building Bridging, One Journal Article at a Time by Frances Pinter
Recently the Association of University Presses (AUP), through its partnership with SUPRR, extended a helping hand to Professor Ilona Kostikova, Professor of Pedagogy at the Department of Foreign Language Teaching Methods and Practice at the V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University.
Last year I ran into Ilona at a conference. She talked enthusiastically about her journal, Educational Challenges. She’d flipped it a few years ago from a Ukrainian language publication to English, assembled a board from fifteen countries and proceeded to do all the things you’d expect of a reputable international journal. It’s hosted on OJS and is completely open access. Her university supports her efforts, but she has minimal funding, despite heightening the profile of Ukraine through registering with Web of Science, Scopus, DOAJ and others.
I asked Ilona whether there was anything SUPRR could help her with. She said all she wanted was to perfect the English of the text. This was no easy feat as by then she was already receiving submissions from people from around the world, in various forms of English.
I approached Peter Berkery, executive director of AUP who in turn asked Jason Gosnell of the Marine Corps University Press for help. He and his colleagues then copyedited and proofed 10 of the16 articles.
Of the experience Ilona says ‘the work with Jason was very productive. He and his colleagues corrected stylistics and made corrections to references which always takes a lot of time’. Jason said ‘we would have liked to contribute more if we had a bit more time. It’s certainly an honour to contribute in this way to help the Ukrainian people’.
And so a human bridge was built, one journal article at a time between Kharkiv and Quantico in Virginia.
April, 2024
Organized in collaboration with the Ukrainian Book Institute and the Embassy of Canada to Ukraine, this webinar provides an overview of the Ukrainian book market and tips on building strong business relations between Canadian and Ukrainian publishers.
Take this opportunity to learn about the transformations in the Ukrainian book industry and the ways in which Canadian and Ukrainian publishers can continue to work together during these challenging times.
Watch a recording of the webinar and more about the event.
March 20, 2024
The International Book Arsenal Festival Program launches the Book Arsenal Fellowship Program, Kyiv, Ukraine and announces the call for applications for the international audience of book professional.
Foreign publishers, rights managers, literary agents and other professionals of the book industry interested in cooperation with Ukraine are invited to participate in the competitive selection.
The application for participation in the Book Arsenal Fellowship Program, Kyiv, Ukraine is open at the link. The submission deadline is March 22 inclusive. The applicants selected for the participation in the program will have received confirmation by April 12. The Book Arsenal Fellowship Program, Kyiv, Ukraine, covers travel expenses and accommodation costs in Kyiv for the duration of the program.
For more details please visit the Book Arsenal webpage https://book.artarsenal.in.ua/en/open-call-for-the-book-arsenal-fellowship-program/
December 4, 2023
Polish Publishers Reveal Lessons Learnt on the Road to EU Membership and Beyond
On the 4th of December SUPRR joined forces with the Polish Chamber of Books in co-hosting a two and a half hour webinar for Ukrainian Publishers called Patterns and Practices of Publishing Activities from Inside the EU – Experiences form Poland The meeting brought Ukrainian and Polish publishers together to discuss what changes the Ukrainian publishing sector might want to undertake as it falls in line with EU practices.
The topics covered by five representatives of the Polish book sector, Sonia Draga, Grzegorz Boguta, Maria Deskur, Magdalena Dębowska, Piotr Dobrołęcki, included legal issues, competition rules, taxes and business practices, copyright laws, licenses and contractual practices; how cooperative promotions can help increase the size of the book market and the role of the media in the book sector.
The webinar was kindly opened by with introductions for Olexsandr Afonin, President of the Ukrainian Publishers and Booksellers Association and Olexandra Koval, Director of the Ukrainian Book Institute.
Eighty nine Ukrainian publishers registered and nearly all attended.
October 30, 2023
International Conference Open Science and Innovation in Ukraine 2023
Team members of SUPRR, Frances Pinter and Gareth Dyke, presented at the German sponsored International Conference Open Science and Innovation in Ukraine 2023. Frances spoke about the SUPRR initiative. A question asking whether SUPRR could provide advice on new methods of distribution came from the audience. This was something that SUPRR had in mind when considering its internship scheme. Good to hear it confirmed as a need.
Sören Auer from the Leibniz Information Centre for Science and Technology and University Library who has been involved in many large EU schemes said in his welcome speech that he would like to see more bottom-up small initiatives to complement the large EU ones. SUPRR ticks that box!
September 29, 2023
EASE Ukraine
On September 29, Frances Pinter delivered a presentation on the SUPRR Initiative during the meeting convened by EASE Ukraine. She discussed the initiative’s aim to provide crucial support for Ukrainian publishing in the face of challenging circumstances. The ensuing discussion touched upon issues related to academic publishing in the post-Soviet space and during the ongoing war in Ukraine, with a particular focus on the necessity for the Ukrainian editor community to be fully engaged on the international stage.
The European Association of Science Editors (EASE) represents an international community of editors with diverse backgrounds, linguistic traditions, and professional experience who share a passion for science, scholarly communication, editing, and publishing. The Ukrainian regional chapter of EASE is an actively developed community led by Iryna Izarova, and it actively cooperates with the SUPRR Initiative.
October 10, 2023
Lviv Book Forum 2023
SUPRR Founder Frances Pinter attended the Lviv Book Forum in early October. This 30-year-old annual event defied all obstacles and ran its varied programmes in five different locations across the city. This year’s theme Writing the Future could not have been more appropriate as the world sinks into more conflict.
The main conference was held in the 16th century Powder Tower. Mixing acclaimed Ukrainian writers with world-renowned literary figures, the co-curated programme with the Hay Festival shared essential stories and facilitated a global conversation around the biggest questions of our time. Many panels with simultaneous translation can be viewed through the Hay Festival site.
Publishers displayed their beautifully produced new books outside in the sunshine. The public were delighted with the new works. Self-publishing was also in evidence as were new internet bookshop start-ups.
August 1, 2023
Webinar for authors by Bentham Science
Planning Your Publication Pathways to Success! August 18, 2023 11:00 CET. Discuss the most efficient ways to plan your next research. Find details and register at the link below.
May 31, 2023
Ukrainian coverage of SUPRR
Chytomo/Читомо features the SUPRR initiative and announces helping hands for Ukrainian publishers.
May 25, 2023
Publishing Perspectives features SUPRR
Publishing Perspectives gave an overview of the SUPRR initiative. The news piece lists supportive partners and announces funding from De Gruyter’s eBound Foundation.
May 18, 2023
De Gruyter funding for SUPRR
We are happy to announce that our initiative supporting Ukrainian Publishing Resilience and Recovery (SUPRR) received grant from De Gruyter Ebound Foundation. The grant will support publishers and help us build projects to strengthen the networks that offer help.
May 16, 2023
SUPRR in Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly mentions the SUPRR project quoting Frances Pinter, executive chair of Central European University Press. “Our overall goal is to see a healthy publishing industry restored to the people of Ukraine.”
See their report by clicking the link below.
May 16, 2023
AUPressess joins in supporting SUPRR
“We particularly applaud the goal of greater integration of Ukrainian scholarly publishers into the global scholarly communications ecosystem. We commit to expanded outreach to our Ukrainian university press colleagues through targeted participation in AUPresses programs and resources.” writes the AUPresses Board of Directors.
April 14, 2023
From the CEU Press
SUPRR (Supporting Ukrainian Publishing Resilience and Recovery) is a new initiative meant to galvanise assistance for Ukrainian publishing now and after the war. It is a call to action building a strong transnational community of publishers working together to match needs with resources.