Open Access : Open Access books
Books about open access
- Open Access and the humanities: contexts, controversies and the futureIn this book, Martin Paul Eve sets out the histories, contexts and controversies for open access, specifically in the humanities. Broaching practical elements alongside economic histories, open licensing, monographs and funder policies, this book is a must-read for both those new to ideas about open-access scholarly communications and those with an already keen interest in the latest developments for the humanities.
- Open accessIn this concise introduction, Peter Suber tells us what open access is and isn’t, how it benefits authors and readers of research, how we pay for it, how it avoids copyright problems, how it has moved from the periphery to the mainstream, and what its future may hold. Distilling a decade of Suber’s influential writing and thinking about open access, this is the indispensable book on the subject for researchers, librarians, administrators, funders, publishers, and policy makers.
- The power of openThe Creative Commons organisation has released The Power of Open, a new book celebrating the impact of Creative Commons (CC) and highlighting individual stories. These include the adoption of CC for the Open University's OpenLearn website for course materials and the development of the open access publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS). The book also gives a useful overview of CC licences and a description of the vision for a growing culture of openness.
- The access principleIn The Access Principle: The Case for Open Access to Research and Scholarship, John Willinsky makes a case for open access as a public good. A commitment to scholarly work, writes Willinsky, carries with it a responsibility to circulate that work as widely as possible: this is the access principle. In the digital age, that responsibility includes exploring new publishing technologies and economic models to improve access to scholarly work.
Knowledge Unlatched
Knowledge Unlatched is a project that allows multiple libraries to share the cost of Open Access publishing. This has the benefit of making the research freely available to use and share, whilst also bringing down costs.
All the Knowledge Unlatched ebooks are available through our library catalogue.
Search for Open Access books
See a list of open access books published by Open Book Publishers, Open Humanities Press and others.
Search the OAPEN Online Library: The OAPEN Library contains the full text of peer reviewed OA books which are 'free to read' online.
Search for open access books below in the Directory of Open Access Books. DOAB is a discovery services that points to OA books that can be found elsewhere. All books listed in DOAB have a full OA licence, making them 'free to share'.
About OA book publishing
OA monograph publishing
While journals have led the way in Open Access publishing, there have been considerable developments recently in the area of Open Access monographs and textbooks. Read more about the Open Access monograph publishing landscape, significant publishing activities, and insights into the transition to open access for academic books.
There are many different business models available to allow books to be produced as Open Access. For example: dual editions, where the publisher gets income from print formats while providing free online versions; subsidies from institutions or research organisations; academic collaboration and University presses, value-added services; charging publication fees. See a list of models and examples in practice from the Open Access Directory.
OAPEN OA books toolkit
In September 2020, the OAPEN Foundation launched a new OA books toolkit for researchers and academic book authors. The toolkit covers specific topics related to open access books. Each article offers a quick and brief introduction to a particular aspect of open access book publishing. The toolkit also serves as a signposting tool: articles include a list of sources referenced, further reading and links to definitions of key terms. Access the toolkit via the OAPEN website.
Information for authors
Researchers, particularly in the arts, humanities and social sciences, find that open access publishing can open up a wider readership and even increase print sales. Some publishers allow 'self-archiving' of monographs (depositing a version in a repository) - check your author agreement or ask your publisher if they will allow this to increase visibility.
Many research funders are committed to ensuring that the published outputs of their funded research are made freely available, so that this knowledge can be built on by the widest possible audience. The Wellcome Trust recognises that key research findings are published as scholarly monographs or book chapters, and believe that the visibility and impact of these research outputs should be maximised. For this reason, their open access policy now extends to monographs and book chapters. See the Wellcome Trust's Guide to open access for monographs and book chapters.
Projects and recent developments
- Science EuropeScience Europe has published a briefing paper on Open Access to academic books. The paper recommends that: “All stakeholders should also emphasise that it is not a choice between Open Access and print, but a choice for print and Open Access. Open Access leads to increased dissemination, usage, engagement, and impact, but can be complemented by print.”.
- Knowledge Unlatched This link opens in a new windowKnowledge Unlatched is a global library consortium enabling open access books. The model depends on many libraries from around the world sharing the payment of a single Title Fee to a publisher, in return for a book being made available on a Creative Commons licence via OAPEN as a fully downloadable PDF.
- OAPEN-UKOAPEN-UK is a collaborative research project gathering evidence to help stakeholders make informed decisions on the future of open access scholarly monograph publishing in the humanities and social sciences. A pilot is running until 2015 to assess and evaluate the usage and sales of open access monographs in pdf format, in comparison to print and ebook formats.
- Open Access Publishing in European Networks (OAPEN)The OAPEN Library contains freely accessible academic books, mainly in the area of Humanities and Social Sciences. OAPEN works with publishers to build a quality controlled collection of Open Access books, and provides services for publishers, libraries and research funders in the areas of dissemination, quality assurance and digital preservation.
Publishers of OA books
Here is a small selection of publishers with open access titles:
- Amsterdam University PressAmsterdam University Press has been a longstanding supporter of the concept of Open Access publishing and hence publishes nearly all of its books and journals in an Open Access context. AUP supports the OAPEN library and has over 200 titles listed in DOAB.
- Bloomsbury Open ContentSelected research publications in social sciences and humanities, available under Creative Commons or 'Bllomsbury Open' licence (free to share for non-commercial purposes only).
- Brill OpenBrill Open is available for books accepted for publication under Brill and its imprints. Authors retain copyright of their work in exchange for a Book Publication Charge (BPC). Upon receipt of the BPC, the title will be made freely accessible on Brill’s Online Books and Journals platform under a Creative Commons license: CC-BY or CC-BY-NC.
- Manchester University PressManchester University Press is a founding member of the OAPEN project which has led the way in developing a sustainable platform for OA publishing of monographs in the Humanities and Social Sciences. MUP’s Open Monograph offering is a gold route to OA dissemination that requires payment of a publishing charge.
- Open Book Publishers (OBP)Open Book Publishers (OBP) represents an innovative model of scholarly publishing, where all titles are available as free digital versions from the OBP site, and additional formats including pdf and print can be purchased. Some of OBP's publishing costs are covered by research grants awarded to authors, and the income from the additional formats ensures this model of open access publishing is sustainable.
- Open Humanities PressOpen Humanities Press is an international open access publishing collective whose mission is to make leading works of contemporary critical thought freely available worldwide.
- Palgrave OpenPart of the academic publisher Palgrave MacMillan, giving the option for authors to publish OA research across all publication formats. Content is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) License. Publishing fees (2013) are £7500 for Palgrave Pivot publications and £11000 for monographs.
- SpringerOpen BooksOpen access eBooks are freely available online at SpringerLink. In addition to this free electronic version, a print edition is offered for those who still wish to buy a printed book. SpringerOpen books charge an open access fee at the beginning of the publication process.