JISC Collections - Open Access Monographs in the Humanities and Social Sciences Conference

JISC Collections, in partnership with OAPEN Foundation, is holding a two-day international conference intended for all stakeholders in scholarly communications including European research funders, senior institutional managers, publishers, learned societies, librarians and researchers. The conference aims to raise awareness of open access, to increase understanding of key challenges and to identify where international common policies and frameworks could support the adoption of open access monograph publishing in the humanities and social sciences (HSS). In the UK, the release of the Finch Report alongside the Research Councils UK’s policy is causing much concern in the humanities and social science (HSS) community who feel that policy is being developed with little consideration of the specificities of HSS research or regard for the monograph publishing model. The monograph is the gold standard and in many disciplines remains the primary method through which humanities and social science researchers communicate their work. It is also an essential part of career progression and reputation establishment for many young researchers. In the last two decades, monographs sales have rapidly declined from an average of over 2000 to just 200 – in line with library budgets reductions. In order to support the continued existence of the monograph and to move HSS in line with other areas of scholarly communication and research funder’s policies, a new open access business model is required. However, transitioning to new models requires institutional and cultural change alongside experimentation, testing and consultation. Now is the time for consultation, collaboration and commitment to explore. Monographs received few paragraphs in the Finch Report and at previous conferences and events questions about open access questions about monograph publishing have been met with shrugs. Sponsored by the AHRC and ESRC and hosted by The British Library, this conference will be the first to tackle open access monographs in the humanities and social sciences head on. Key topics of the conference will include new open access business models, maintaining quality, the future of peer-review, creative commons licensing and international policy development.