Guides for OA monographs

The OA effect: How does open access affect the usage of scholarly books? – Springer Nature Whitepaper (2017)

It is frequently claimed that open access (OA) has the potential to increase usage and citations. This report substantiates such claims for books in particular, through benchmarking the performance of Springer Nature books made OA through the immediate (gold) route against that of equivalent non-OA books. The report includes findings from both quantitative analysis of internal book data (chapter downloads, citations and online mentions) and external interviews conducted with authors and funders. This enables the comparison of actual performance with perceptions of performance for OA books.

Download: The OA effect: How does open access affect the usage of scholarly books? – Springer Nature Whitepaper (2017)

Jisc and OAPEN: Publisher information on open access monographs (2016)

The guide ‘Publisher information on open access monographs’ presents recommendations for information that OA monograph publishers should make available on their websites to make their service clear to end users. The recommendations were created as part of the project ‘Investigating OA monograph services’, conducted by Jisc and OAPEN. 

Download: Jisc and OAPEN: Publisher information on open access monographs (2016)

Jisc and OAPEN: Metadata for open access monographs (2016)

The guide ‘Metadata for open access monographs’ presents a metadata model for OA monographs. The model was created as part of the project ‘Investigating OA monograph services’, conducted by Jisc and OAPEN.  

Download: Jisc and OAPEN: Metadata for open access monographs (2016)

OAPEN-UK: ‘Guide to open access monograph publishing for arts, humanities and social science researchers’ (2015)

The ‘Guide to open access monograph publishing for arts, humanities and social science researchers’ informs researchers about making their work available in open access. It provides a very useful overview of OA for books and is also relevant for other interested parties. The guide provides many helpful links to relevant projects and organisations. By providing an overview of possible business models, funders’ requirements, and a fair list of the benefits but also the many concerns involved, it helps the researcher to make a well-considered decision on publishing in open access. The guide is a result of Jisc Collections’ OAPEN-UK project.

Download: OAPEN-UK: ‘Guide to open access monograph publishing for arts, humanities and social science researchers’ (2015)

Wellcome Trust: ‘Open Access Monographs and Book Chapters: A practical guide for publishers’ (2015)

‘Open Access Monographs and Book Chapters: A practical guide for publishers’, gives publishers information and recommendations on publishing open access books. The guide gives a clear answer on pressing questions that publishers might have before or while publishing in open access, such as which information should be available on their website, or how to make readers aware of the open access version of the book. The guide is developed by the Wellcome Trust and is of course indispensable for a publisher of open access monographs funded by WT, but also highly recommended for anyone interested in the area of OA book publishing.

Download: Wellcome Trust: ‘Open Access Monographs and Book Chapters: A practical guide for publishers’ (2015)

OAPEN-UK: ‘Guide to Creative Commons for Humanities and Social Science Monograph Authors’ (2013)

This guide explores concerns expressed in public evidence given by researchers, learned societies and publishers to inquiries in the UK House of Commons and the House of Lords, and also concerns expressed by researchers working with the OAPEN-UK project. The guide has been edited by active researchers, to make sure that it is relevant and useful to academics faced with making decisions about publishing. The ‘Guide to Creative Commons for Humanities and Social Science Monograph Authors’ is a result of Jisc Collections’ OAPEN-UK project.

Download: OAPEN-UK: ‘Guide to Creative Commons for Humanities and Social Science Monograph Authors’ (2013)