Plurality, partnership and pellucidity – the three ‘p’s of open access monograph publishing | Jisc

" ... where does the monograph fit into UK government requirements for free and open access (OA) to publically-funded research? While the focus of this initiative has been giving better access and discoverability to the public of scientific research and papers, a question mark hangs over the feasibility of a transition to OA for the academic book. This was the driving force for OAPEN-UK, a project funded by Jisc and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), which undertook a five-year study into OA monograph publishing in the humanities and social sciences.  Examining the attitudes and perceptions of funders, researchers, publishers, learned societies, universities and libraries, our study reiterated the deep strength of feeling and connectedness that each group has with the monograph, especially in terms of identity and reputation. It also found that while many think open access is a good idea in principle, there is uncertainty about how easy it would be to implement the necessary policies and systems to support OA monographs ..."