Interview with Graeme Nicol, Chief Executive of Cambridge Scholars Publishing – No Shelf Required

"Now, I know there is a whole complex debate running about Open Access (OA), mostly journals, but it’s coming to academic books. So, it’s not as simple as saying if a publisher asks you for money as an author, they are to be avoided. So let me say instead: if a publisher asks you for money to publish your book, take a careful look.

At the moment, ‘Gold’ OA – authors pay to make their books OA online – is not on our radar. If OA continues to gather strength in the academic market, it may be something we will look at. But if we do, it will be an option – publish conventionally, or publish OA, and find a way to cover our costs. And I think if you have an option as an author – I can choose to pay for one service, or I can publish for free with a different service – that should reassure people about predatory behavior.

If you are a small or new-entrant publisher operating a compulsory Publishing Charge, you are going to have your motives questioned. My advice would be: don’t do it! Find a way to make it pay, as we do, without publishing charges, or go do something else. If you are an author, look very carefully at any compulsory Publishing Charge...."