The Open Access Monograph Supplement of Insights: the UKSG journal, Vol 27, 1/2014 (March) contains many useful articles
Calibrating the parameters: changing hearts and minds about open access monographs, Michael C.R. Davies
ABSTRACT: The advent of open access (OA) publishing presents welcome new opportunities for reducing the barriers of cost and time to the dissemination of research work in UK universities. However, it does present some challenges to the traditional model of monograph publication in the humanities and social sciences. In common with many other academic institutions, the University of Sussex is developing policies that will permit it to embrace OA publication. This paper describes how, in doing this, Sussex is addressing the challenges associated with OA to ensure that the careers of doctoral students, academics and researchers are not affected adversely by the change in the publishing landscape for monographs both in the UK and internationally.
Open access e-books: the role of the institution, Paul Ayris
ABSTRACT: This article explains the policy position taken by University College London (UCL) in establishing the UCL Press. It sets the creation of the Press against the background of national open access (OA) policy development in the UK. UCL Press, repatriated from a commercial provider, was relaunched as an OA press as part of UCL Library Services on 1 August 2013. The Press will publish both OA electronic journals and OA monographs, with a particular emphasis in the latter on the arts, humanities and social sciences. UCL is largely funding Press activity from its own internal funds, seeing OA as an opportunity rather than a threat.
Open access monographs and the role of the library, Ellen Collins, Graham Stone
ABSTRACT: If open access (OA) books are to succeed, they need to operate in a way that works for academic libraries. Humanities researchers rely upon libraries to help them find and access many of the books they need for their research. Furthermore, many business models require direct input from librarians in the form of funding for first-copy costs or alternative formats. This article uses interviews with librarians and repository managers at four UK universities to consider some key issues for OA monographs from the point of view of librarians, and concludes with a reflection on these findings from the point of view of the University of Huddersfield’s Library.
Open access monographs: a humanities research perspective, Jim Cheshire
ABSTRACT: This article discusses the thoughts of a humanities researcher in relation to open access (OA) publishing. Digital media have dramatically improved access to historic texts but library e-books are frustrating due to software and loan arrangements. Authors of illustrated books risk losing control of book design, although new media offer opportunities to improve image quality and access. Alfred Tennyson’s career shows that authors have been sensitive about the physical form of their work since the Victorian period and ignoring the material significance of the book could make us overlook the fundamental changes that the e-book represents. Monographs retain value as a way of evaluating substantive research projects and those published through the OA process will have great advantages over the commercial e-book. ‘Green’ OA publishing is impractical for humanities scholars and funded ‘gold’ OA publishing is likely to involve a labour-intensive application process.
The publisher journey for OUP, Rohdri Jackson
ABSTRACT: The journey towards open access (OA) monograph publishing is incomplete. Since the publication of the Finch Report and in an environment of improving funding for OA monographs, publishers have made tentative moves into the OA monograph space, but there are a number of questions to be answered before one or more truly successful and sustainable business models can be identified. Oxford University Press (OUP) is a large monograph publisher, and has been publishing OA journals for a decade. It is only in the last year though that OUP has made significant moves towards OA monograph publishing, participating in the OAPEN-UK project and considering other options. The challenge for OUP and the publishing industry is to work with authors, funders and other interested parties to develop OA monograph publishing options which work for all involved and safeguard the future of a crucial element of the scholarly publishing landscape.
Building it together: collaboration in university-based open access book publishing, Andrea Hacker
ABSTRACT: Open access (OA) book publishing in the humanities and social sciences is becoming technically more feasible and financially more desirable. After securing funding for the development of a business model based on a pilot book series, the University of Heidelberg is joining this development and building an infrastructure to publish OA books on campus. The challenges facing such new publishing outlets are considerable. This article argues that the best strategy to build the prestige, affordability and competitiveness necessary to succeed is collaboration. Accomplishing this within the OA community will prove less difficult than extending collaboration beyond it because many agencies and individuals still lack information about, and are often unconvinced of, the merits of open access. The key lies in offering excellence in manuscript development to revitalize the most important collaboration of all: that between publisher and author.
‘The Returned’: on the future of monographic books, Mercedez Bunz
ABSTRACT: This article evaluates the current state of academic book publishing based on the findings of the Hybrid Publishing Lab’s business model research. With students relying more and more on Google and Wikipedia, the role of books within today’s university studies is a difficult one. From the perspective of publishers, open access (OA) embracing the digital is seen as one potential way to bridge this gap between online search engines and traditional monographs. To illustrate this further, the article delivers an overview of its findings, which highlight changes in academic publishing: publishers have switched their emphasis from delivering a product to creating a service, whereby the author rather than the reader becomes their most focused-on customer. Research frameworks, funding and conventions about academic careers, however, often still need to adjust to this new development. If these frameworks acknowledge and foster OA publishing, and new experiments with collaborative book productions flourish, the monograph will have a future.
Open access monograph business models, Eelco Ferwerda
ABSTRACT: In recent years, a number of business models have been developed for open access (OA) monographs in the humanities and social sciences (HSS). While each model has been created in response to specific circumstances and needs, some commonalities can be observed. This article outlines some of the main types of model to support the costs of publishing OA books and provides examples of these models across the world. It is followed by three short sketches providing more depth on: firstly, a traditional publisher’s OA monograph offer; secondly, a licensing-based model which draws from existing library budgets; and finally, an experiment with delayed open access for books in philosophy
Snapshots of three open access business models, Hazel Newton, Marin Dacos, Pierre Mounier, Yrsa Neuman
ABSTRACT: Following on from Eelco Ferwerda’s introduction to different OA monograph business models [the authors of this article] explain the different OA business models that they are currently working with.
How should we fund open access monographs and what do you think is the most likely way that funding will happen?
ABSTRACT: The contributors to the Insights OA monograph supplement were invited to respond to this question, and their thought-provoking and sometimes conflicting replies below make interesting reading
Australasian Open Access Strategy Group 