Open Access: OA Books

Open Access

by Peter Suber

Understanding Open Access

by Lexi Rubow, Rachael Shen, Brianna Schofield, and the Samuelson Clinic

Open Access and the Humanities

by Martin Paul Eve

The Access Principle: The Case for Open Access to Research and Scholarship

by John Willinsky

Open access books can be challenging to publish due to the costs involved in publishing a book, but the good news is that OA models are emerging.  Some presses have a book processing charge (BPC), the equivalent of an article processing charge for OA journals.  However, BPCs are high and require some kind of subvention. 

Virginia Tech is one of 12 U.S. institutions participating in the Open Access Monograph Initiative, which will support faculty publication of open access monographs by major university presses.  See the press release for more information, and contact Peter Potter, Director of Publishing Services in the University Libraries, if interested.  (Although it is not specifically for open access books, the provost's office offers a book publishing subvention.)  In addition, Virginia Tech's University Libraries supports Knowledge Unlatched, which works with a number of scholarly publishers and does not require book authors to find funding.

Did you write a book chapter you would like to make OA?  Check your publishing agreement, or this list of Book Chapter Archiving Permissions.

Do you have a previously published book you would like to make OA?  Many book contracts contain a rights reversion clause.  Learn all about rights reversion from the Author's Alliance.

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