The Next Obstacle for OA Publishing in the HSS: More Costs? Or the License? |

"Serendipity brought about three discussions this week that showed me just how tricky it will be to pull off building high-quality open-access outlets for the humanities and social sciences. Interestingly enough, these were not arguments with OA-opponents about fundamental pros and cons but discussions with supporters of the cause. The first conversation was with an editorial board member for a new OA-gold book series which we are building for junior researchers here at the University of Heidelberg. We have a potential submission of a very fine dissertation as an opening volume. The EdBoard member raised an issue that to him was vital in deciding whether to accept this manuscript: a guarantee that open access books get reviewed in the central journals of the discipline.  'It is of paramount importance for young academics that their works are reviewed. Do we have any empirical values that show that this happens for open access books,' he asked ... The second conversation was with a young and successful academic in archaeology, who has been a supporter of open access for years. He chose to publish his dissertation in green and substantial articles in gold rather than with trade-publishers and when I approached him with the offer to publish his next edited volume with our new book series, he was immediately enthused.  However, he insisted on the clarification of two issues. The first concerned the availability of hard-copies for the contributors. He said – and I know all too well that he is right – that most authors really expect to receive a copy of the book that they submit their essay to. Not to supply them with that is considered bad form on part of the book-editor.  And fair enough – if we recall that authors do not get any money for the contents they deliver, then one copy for their shelves is not much to ask. For our production line, however, this means one thing: it will cost more money.  The second issue my potential book-editor wanted clarified is copyright clearance for images. He told me that this is becoming increasingly difficult (not to say absurd) in his field because certain important museums and archives now charge more money for copyright clearance if an image goes into an open access venue than they ask for the same image if it goes into a pay-wall outlet.  In the humanities and social sciences that adds up!  The third discussion was with Peter Murray-Rust (@petermurrayrust). Since it happened on Twitter, it was brief but nonetheless perhaps the most significant and it went like this ... PMR does it have an Open licence? ... tricky issue. Loads of copyrighted images and media. Cc by nc ... thanks, identify 3rd party inclusions and make the rest cc-by  Now this goes right to the heart of the open access debate in the humanities and social sciences. It also highlights the fundamental differences that have developed – for better or for worse – between the publishing conventions in the STEM fields and those in the HSS.  I want to point to three immediate concerns, some of which (and more) are well documented ..."