By Marli Bunce, Library Student Ambassador

The is an open-access publishing program, designed to support early career researchers by fully funding their first scholarly book and offering intensive publishing 'Masterclasses.' The first Lancaster University author to be approved for publishing with Trailblazers is one of our own lecturers in Technology Enhanced Learning, Kathy Chandler. With a professional background spanning healthcare to online distance education, Kathy’s work emphasizes the importance of care, community, and equitable access in digital education. In a recent interview, Kathy shared insights on her participation in the Trailblazers scheme.

Could you share what inspired you to apply for the Trailblazers Open Access scheme?

Trailblazers is an initiative developed by Lancaster University Library in collaboration with the libraries of the University of Liverpool and the University of Salford and Liverpool University Press, which provides selected early career authors with a fully funded opportunity to publish their first open access monograph or book with Liverpool University Press. I'm an early career researcher, so when I started working in the Department of Educational Research at Lancaster University in January 2024, I was looking out for any opportunities open to those at this career stage. This was the first one that I saw. The Director of Research in my department encouraged me to submit an expression of interest and my Departmental Mentor and Head of Department both supported my application.

How would you reflect upon your experience with the scheme so far?

My experience of the scheme so far has been that it's very supportive. My expression of interest was reviewed by a panel from Lancaster University, who then requested some further details. They must have liked my responses because I was then invited to submit a proposal to Liverpool University Press. When I was writing the proposal, I attended a helpful workshop in Liverpool facilitated by Alison Welsby, the Editorial Director of Liverpool University Press. She set us on the right track and answered all our questions. Alison made clear that once an early career researcher had been accepted onto the Trailblazers Scheme, she and her colleagues would always continue to work with us to get our book published, however long it took. After my proposal was reviewed by two anonymous reviewers, there was plenty of encouraging and constructive feedback. After writing my response to the reviews, the editorial board requested an extended proposal. This was accepted and I attended another workshop with Alison, this time online, to help those on the scheme to understand our contract. Now I just need to find time to write the book!

What do you consider to be the most significant benefit of participating in the scheme?

For me, the most significant benefit of participating in the scheme is having the opportunity to publish open access. The primary audience for my book, provisionally titled, Teaching in online rooms: Stories from virtual communities is online distance educators. This includes not only those in higher education, but also a wider audience of educators in other settings who are unlikely to access research about online teaching. This can be because they lack the time to do so, lack access to academic libraries, or perhaps because they see research as ‘other’ and irrelevant to them, running parallel to their teaching practice or even undermining it. Through this book and sharing the stories of online learning and teaching collected during my doctoral research and elsewhere, I hope to help readers connect with and learn from students' and educators' experiences.

What guidance would you offer to other early career researchers who may be hesitant about pursuing Open Access publishing?

Work that is published open access really does reach a much wider, more diverse audience, benefitting you as a researcher and promoting social justice in education at the same time. There are costs involved of course but in a scheme like this, the publishing and marketing costs are all paid by the scheme and the costs to you are your time and effort. You will receive the royalties on any printed copies of the book that are sold. To those who are hesitant about starting the process, I would say take it a step at a time and ask for advice as you go along.

What does this proposal approval signify for your academic career, and what future opportunities might it open up for you?

For me, the offer of an open access book contract is an important stepping stone to writing my first monograph, which will hopefully be widely read. It gives me a platform to share the experiences of learners and educators who took part in my doctoral research and contribute to shaping online pedagogy and practice. It also provides opportunities for me to learn about the writing process and open access publishing that I can use for any future publications and share with colleagues and the doctoral researchers I support within Lancaster University.

Kathy’s experience as the first Trailblazers author highlights the exciting potential of open access publishing to widen the impact of research. Early career researchers interested in taking this step can find out more about applying by visiting the