Open Access Primer

Choose a publisher

The right publisher for your book makes a difference for your readers and its accessibility.  

If you are in a university position, where you publish may be a factor for tenure and promotion. Some well-regarded university presses have open access options, and other newer open access options are also available.

Advice on contracts

• Understanding and Negotiating Book Publication Contracts (PDF) - Schofield & Walker eds., Authors Alliance, 2018.
   
• Publication Contracts - Authors Alliance

Benefits

• Open Access Books are downloaded, cited, and mentioned more than non-OA books - LSE Impact
  OA books are, on average, downloaded seven times more, cited 50% more, and mentioned online ten times more.

• Benefits of open access books are clear but challenges around funding remain - LSE Impact

Book Processing Charges / Chapter Processing Charges

BPCs and CPCs are relatively new and publishers are still working on how to cover their publishing costs. The variance is even greater than with article processing charges. One recent study cites: €500 to €18,500 ($585 - $21,640) for BPCs. 

Learn more

• Funding for Open Access Books - Springer Nature
  A compilation of resources from which to seek funding, by country, funder, institution.
   
• Why Book Processing Charges (BPCs) Vary So Much - Pinter, Frances, JEP: Journal of Electronic Publishing, Volume 21, Issue 1, 2018.
   
• Open Access Resources - Authors Alliance

 A selective list:

• OAPEN: Open Access Publishing in European Networks (provides the searchable OAPEN Library containing freely accessible academic books, mainly in the area of humanities and social sciences)
   
• DOAB: Directory of Open Access Books (a discovery service for OA academic peer-reviewed books)
   
• Open Book Publishers (free e-books in the field of humanities and social sciences)
   
• Open Humanities Press (an international open access publishing initiative)