Sustainability and the MHRA

The Modern Humanities Research Association (MHRA) publishes seven academic journals, the Style Guide, and two major book imprints: Legenda, and Texts and Translations. Our commitment to supporting excellence in scholarly research extends to conducting our publishing activity in an environmentally responsible manner. This applies not only to the natural resources we use and the energy we consume, but also to our investments.

As all our production and distribution are done via third parties (scope 3 emissions), we have little control over our carbon emissions. (See the notes and weblinks at the foot of this page for the sustainability policies of our third-party providers). However, the following aspects of our work all reflect environmentally conscious choices:

  • Print-on-demand (POD) printing means no overprinting (which leads to waste product (pulping), with associated transportation impact) and no warehousing; only what is needed/ordered is shipped, meaning transportation impacts are kept to a minimum.
  • Where possible, book orders are printed in or as close as possible to the country of origin, to minimise shipping impact (via Lightning Source’s multiple printing locations and via their Global Connect programme).
  • No premises/office: all working is remote. No company vehicles or commuting.
  • Of our three annual meetings, one is always online; all directors and staff travel to our two in-person meetings via public transport.
  • Paperless author contracts and payslips: the carbon saving of digital versus paper is debatable, but where there is a saving is in removing the need for postage (often international in the case of contracts). We now use virtual document management systems wherever possible.
  • All commissioning and editorial work, and all minor meetings, are conducted online.
  • While we still issue most of our journals in print, a majority of access is via online platforms. Our journal Working Papers in the Humanities is online-only.

Third-party sustainability policies