What is open access?
Open access is a publishing model that makes research information available to readers at no cost, unlike the traditional model in which readers have access to scholarly information by paying.
What is open access?
The fundamental principle underlying open access is that research should be freely available to the public with no restrictions on who can download and view it. Watch the video below for a detailed introduction to the concept of open access.
What is an open access book?
Open access books are made openly available online with an open license and are accessible for free without registration or other access barriers.
Some disciplines use the term 'monograph' to describe long-form outputs. A monograph is defined by UKRI as a "long-form publication (such as a book) that communicates an original contribution to academic scholarship on one topic or theme and is designed for a primarily academic audience. It may be written by one or more authors." (UKRI, 2023).
Individual book chapters and edited collections can also be published open access and are sometimes grouped with book/monograph outputs in discussions and policies from funders relating to open access.
Why publish an open access book?
Publishing an open access book or monograph can have several benefits compared with traditional publishing.
Increase readership, usage and citations of your work
Open access books are available to anyone with an internet connection, anywhere in the world, which greatly increases the opportunities for your work to be read, discussed, and cited. A 2021 report found that open access books were downloaded on average ten times more than non-open access books, and were cited 2.4 times more (Neylon, et al. 2021), whilst this report from the University of Michigan Press found that open access books were accessed more than non-open access books (Lin and Mrjoian, 2023).
Allow wider and more diverse audiences to access your work
Open access books have the potential to reach wider and more diverse audiences, including academics from other disciplines, independent researchers, policymakers, industries and the general public. Open access work is also more accessible for institutions and individuals who might lack the resources to purchase it otherwise, including researchers in low or middle income countries (Neylon et al., 2021).
Faster impact
Open access books are typically made available online immediately upon publication, whereas traditionally a reader would have to wait for their institution to purchase the book or pay to access it themselves. This also excluded readers who did not possess the resources to purchase the book.
Greater author control
Authors usually retain the re-use rights and copyrights of their work when publishing open access, giving them greater control over their work. The accessibility afforded by open access publishing also enables authors to freely share their work, such as with communities and stakeholders outside of academic contexts who may have contributed or stand to benefit from the research.
Compliance with funders mandates
An increasing number of major funders, including UKRI and the Wellcome Trust have an open access policy for the work they support. An open access requirement for submission of longform outputs will be in place for the next Research Excellence Framework (REF), with implementation from 1 January 2029.
Open Policy Finder is an online resource that aggregates publisher open access policies from around the world and provides summaries of up-to-date information concerning funders' policies and their requirements on open access, publication and data archiving.
Common questions about open access books
- Does publishing an open access book prevent you from publishing print copies?
- Does open access lead to an overall lack of quality?
- Does publishing open access reduce print copy sales?
- Can I still receive royalties for print sales if I publish my book open access?
Open access and print can happily coexist; many publishers, including ‘fully’ open access publishers, also produce print copies. In fact, the revenue from print sales can help to support publishers to make books available OA. A Universities UK report suggests that “there will always be a need for print purchases, and it is not the intention of open access to replace physical copies” (UUK, 2019).
Open access does not result in an overall lack of quality. Most publishers apply the same standards and procedures for both open access and non-open access titles, from editorial processes such as peer review, to production processes including design and typesetting.
The Directory of Open Access Books has developed a free tool called PRISM that allows users to check the quality control process that applies to a given work, such as the peer review process.
Research into the impact of open access publishing on monograph sales is still ongoing. However, a study published in September 2023 by the Association of University Presses, in collaboration with Ithaka S+R, suggests that open access publications can generate significant revenue “despite the preconception that there is an inevitable trade-off between OA editions and print sales.” (Brown et. al 2023).
Authors can still receive royalties for book sales even when the output is published open access. You can negotiate with your publisher about royalties on sales of an open access book as you can for a closed-access book.
See also this video from John Sherer, Director of The University of North Carolina Press, US. OA Monograph Mythbusting: Open Access means I can no longer receive royalties from my book?
Acknowledgements:
This section makes extensive use of OAPEN (2019). OA Books Toolkit. [online] Available at: https://www.oabooks-toolkit.org/about-the-toolkit/15210909-welcome-to-the-toolkit, made available under a Creative Commons License (CC BY 4.0).