This presentation provides a bit of a closer look at the practice of scholar-led publishing within the Humanities and Social Sciences, with a particular focus on examples from Media and Cultural Studies. Following an introductory framing of what is meant by 'scholar-led' in this context, the presentation will take a diachronic approach to showcase early proponents as well as recent open access initiatives that focus on providing scholar- and community-led alternatives to publishing via large commercial entities.