A new funding model for open-access monographs | Munin Conference 2020

Introducing a novel business model and approach to publishing OA books through library membership funding

We outline the work of a university press, with assistance from the COPIM Project (Community-led Open Publication Infrastructures for Monographs), in building an innovative revenue model to fund open access monographs at a traditional publisher. Building on library journal subscription models (eg: OLH) and on Knowledge Unlatched's approach to monograph funding, we present a sustainable OA publishing model that gives members exclusive access to a backlist, with the revenue then used to make the frontlist openly accessible. The model can be emulated by other scholarly presses who wish to take advantage of the opportunities that open access publishing affords.