Charting the US Landscape for Open Access Books | Katina Magazine

"Niels Stern’s August 2025 article “Let’s Talk about Open Access Policies for Academic Books” shares outcomes from the Policy Alignment of Open Access Monographs in the European Research Area (PALOMERA) project, which “set out to understand the policy landscape of [open access (OA)] books and the challenges preventing research funders and institutions in particular from including books in their OA policies” in the European context. The PALOMERA recommendations are straightforward, including five high-level recommendations and around 40 stakeholder-specific recommendations. The high-level recommendations can be applied broadly, but different nuances emerge depending upon regional context and local practices.

This response considers each of the high-level PALOMERA recommendations from a US perspective. Where do things currently stand for OA book policies? How difficult would implementation be? Who should take the lead? We offer a starting point here for considering these questions and invite stakeholders from across the US scholarly communications ecosystem to further inform these observations with their own knowledge and experiences. We also hope that other countries will examine and share how the PALOMERA recommendations sit within their operating framework."