On “Open Access and the Humanities: Contexts, Controversies, and the Future,” by Martin Paul Eve – Alyssa Arbuckle

"In this thorough volume, Open Access and the Humanities: Contexts, Controversies, and the Future, Martin Paul Eve introduces readers to open access as a concept and practice. Where Eve’s study differs from other major open access books, like Peter Suber’s Open Access, is in his specific focus on the humanities. Open access is often discussed in relation to the sciences only. This is for a few reasons, including that the earliest, largest-scale open access publishing movement started in physics; open access has gained a lot of ground in the sciences due to the urgency of releasing research results quickly and widely (because of the timeliness of certain scientific research, its role in policy decisions on time sensitive issues like climate change and healthcare, etc); and science publications are exceedingly expensive, and often far more expensive than those of other disciplines. Open access, Eve argues, is still possible and indeed crucial for the humanities. Although the humanities and sciences differ in many ways, open access practices from the sciences can be translated and applied as appropriate for the humanities."