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Author: Rachael Ballard and Zachary Romano

How can research make a meaningful contribution towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)? Interdisciplinary, policy-relevant research, especially when published open access, is crucial to achieving the SDGs. This is the kind of research published in ¹ú²úÂÒÂס¯s Sustainable Development Goals Series.

The global community aims to meet the SDGs by 2030, but there are concerns that this will not be achievable. The 17 global objectives address the most critical challenges facing humanity, including poverty, health, inequality, climate change, and more. Research is essential for the SDGs, for understanding the issues, addressing them, and evaluating solutions. ¹ú²úÂÒÂס¯s comprehensively brings together interdisciplinary research across all 17 SDGs.

Why is interdisciplinarity important to tackling the SDGs?

The SDGs are not theoretical contemplations; They are real-world issues, and as such, they do not neatly fall into disciplinary compartments with clear boundaries. The complexity of the issues represented in the SDGs and their interconnectedness mean that no one discipline or profession can effectively tackle them. 

Interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity are essential in the efforts to address sustainable development and achieve the SDGs. Developing effective solutions to climate change, resilience and adaptation to natural hazards and disasters, energy and food security, and many more, require a holistic approach. 

Scientific, technical, and engineering expertise can only go so far, and must be integrated with social, psychological, and political perspectives to understand implementation and human reactions and behaviour. This integration of social, natural, and physical sciences will produce viable, long-term solutions. 

Publishing in the Sustainable Development Goals Series is an ideal fit for my research due to its comprehensive and interdisciplinary approach. The interconnected nature of the SDGs necessitates insights from various disciplines, which this series expertly integrates, fostering a holistic understanding and innovative solutions.

 - Rana Nabil Geith, co-editor of

Making SDG research impactful: ¹ú²úÂÒÂס¯s Sustainable Development Goals Book Series 

¹ú²úÂÒÂס¯s Sustainable Development Goals Series has developed into the most comprehensive research library on the SDGs. The inherently transdisciplinary nature of the SDGs is well reflected in the series, with its broad remit and contributions welcome from scientists, academics, policymakers, and researchers working in fields related to any of the goals.

To handle the interconnectedness and complexity of the SDGs, the series publishes both STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) and HSS (humanities and social sciences) research, across the Springer and Palgrave Macmillan imprints. The complementary focus of the imprints ensures comprehensive coverage across all 17 SDGs. 

Publishing your work in the SDG Book Series means that it will enjoy an exceptionally broad reach to readership interested in the SDGs, well beyond your own discipline. Your work¡¯s contextualisation alongside SDG-related research increases its credibility and impact. The overall, shared intent to present policy-relevant research and achieve real-world impact, in addition to academic excellence, fosters engagement in relevant discourses.

Publishing in the Sustainable Development Goals Book Series meant that our analysis was not only closely fitting with the series, but also reached a very wide academic and practitioner audience, who are also interested in the SDGs, and more broadly in research with a positive impact on society.

- Sotiria Grek, co-author of

What are some other unique benefits of publishing your SDG research in the Sustainable Development Goals Book Series?

Writing clearly and carefully is important when preparing your book proposal. The reader who evaluates the proposal (this would be an editor who would be at least broadly familiar with your field) should easily and promptly understand what you are trying to convey.

• Escape the disciplinary silo: When published in the series, your work will be exposed to readers outside your discipline and its immediate periphery. It could reach a broader readership with an interest in the SDGs, that would not likely explore your work if not published under the series.  
• Indexed in Scopus database: The series has been accepted for indexing in Scopus, which means enhanced visibility and credibility for your work when published in the series, and a boost to your academic profile. 
• Distinct visual identity: Series books are printed in a large format with double columns on high-quality paper. This distinct visual identity increases the visibility and recognition of the series, and naturally reflects also on your own work as a part of it.

We chose to publish Global Health Essentials with ¹ú²úÂÒÂ× as part of the SDG Book Series to align our work with the global commitment to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). By joining the SDG Book Series, we aim to amplify the importance of global health equity and sustainability.

- Mario Raviglione and Fabrizio Tediosi, co-editors of

The SDG framework provides a comprehensive approach with clear goals and targets to address a wide range of global challenges in the short and long term. Aligning and publishing our research within the SDG framework provides more visibility and recognition of key topics, helps to reach a broader audience with the potential to influence policy and create collaborations.

- Natasha Tang Kai & Larry Swatuk, Authors of 

For maximum impact, open access makes the difference

You can choose to publish your book open access (OA) in the Sustainable Development Goals Book Series. In fact, 10% of titles in the series have been published OA, with growing interest in this format specifically for this series. And this makes perfect sense because OA books are a format made for SDG research. 

The nature of the SDGs necessitates a holistic, interdisciplinary approach, but it also implies that knowledge should be made available, without discrimination, to as many people as possible. This means publishing OA. 

OA books have 2.4 times more citations, 10 times more downloads, and 10 times more online mentions than non-OA books on average. These increased impact and visibility foster global collaboration and engagement on issues relating to the SDGs.

When research on the SDGs is published OA, it promotes equity, as research outputs are available to all. It is not surprising that OA books have a more geographically diverse readership: They reach on average a whopping 61% more countries than non-OA books, most of which are underrepresented in global scholarship.

The Sustainable Development Goals Book Series provided an excellent space to publish our edited book. It aligns perfectly with the framework of the series, which is organised around the SDGs. The series also permitted our contributing authors to be sure that their work would be well-accessed by a large audience interested in the SDGs.

- Sherif Goubran, co-editor of

Looking to 2030 and beyond: Research with impact

With impactful and timely contributions from many authors across (and between) many disciplines, and a strong commitment to supporting the SDGs, the Sustainable Development Goals Series has grown at an exponential rate. From publishing two books in 2018, it has now reached over 200 volumes form both the Springer and Palgrave Macmillan imprints. 

The series offers authors a fantastic platform to publish work that is aligned with the SDGs from two (!) imprints. And indeed, working on this cross-imprint series with different colleagues from these imprints and across ¹ú²úÂÒÂ×, and seeing it flourish in a fairly short space of time, has been very rewarding and a huge achievement. The success of this series has also led to the launch of a German-language SDG Series, which really serves to cement our commitment to publishing research with impact. 

The deadline to achieving the SDGs, 2030, is a few years away, but there remains much ground to cover across the Sustainable Development Goals Book Series. If we are to realise the aims of the SDGs, this will require more solutions-oriented, interdisciplinary research capable of bridging traditional divides between disciplines, combining research excellence with impact. You¡¯ll find this research in ¹ú²úÂÒÂס¯s Sustainable Development Goals Series. Might your work be another building block in this important project? 

I was keen to publish my book as part of this series because it aligns with my aims as an author: informing effective policies, guiding future research, and supporting educators, ultimately fostering a more informed and proactive approach to addressing the pressing issues of our time.

- R. Sooryamoorthy, author of

Discover the broad range of books published in the , and learn how you can publish your work here as well. And for more on the SDGs, visit ¹ú²úÂÒÂס¯s SDG Programme. 

Writing your SDG research in German? Explore ¹ú²úÂÒÂס¯s German-language sister series, titled .