Tag: OAPEN

The project Knowledge Unlatched (KU) offers a library sponsored model to ensure open access for monographs and edited collections in the arts & humanities and social sciences. Libraries can take part in Knowledge Unlatched by pledging for the offered title list. The KU project started in 2013 with a pilot of 28 books from 13 publishers to create a platform where authors, publishers, libraries and readers could potentially all benefit from open access for books. Authors see their work disseminated on a global maximized scale and in the KU model they won’t be bothered with BPCs. It is a fact that free accessible books have been downloaded extensively, on top of the normal sales of the paper version. Citations are not necessarily increasing, but they will come faster.[1] Publishers can experiment with generating new revenue streams for open access books. Libraries are paying (you could have a discussion on where the money should come from) but in return are supporting open access for books and deliver accessibility for their researchers (online and with a cheaper acquired paper version – see below). And readers can read and download the books for free.

KU is an example of a crowdfunded, or better, consortium open access funding model. This model spreads costs and offers a broad access for books. It is currently the most important platform, and most likely the biggest in terms of scale, offering a constant stream of open access books. But is this model working?

I have mentioned it before in a previous post that some libraries [2] and commentators [3] see that the model could be sensitive to double-dipping and others have raised the the issue of free-riding (non-paying members taking advantage of the open access books made available by paying members). KU is aware of these issues. As Frances Pinter, the founder of KU, points out in an interview: “in order to deal with the free rider issue, we’re giving the member libraries an additional discount. So, when they buy into the free and they buy the premium, the total will be less than any non-member would have to buy for a premium version.”[4] The collections offered are still fairly small considered to the global output but we’re still in the early days of open access monograph publishing. If more publishers are involved and participating in the growth of the entire collection more libraries could become interested as well.

The KU project started in 2013 with a pilot (Pilot 1: 2013-2014). The pilot consisted of a collection of 28 new books (front list) covering topics in the humanities and social sciences from 13 scholarly publishers including the following university presses: Amsterdam, Cambridge, Duke, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Manchester, Michigan, Purdue, Rutgers and Temple, plus commercial presses: Bloomsbury Academic, Brill and De Gruyter. The pilot was a success and all 28 titles were made available on the OAPEN repository. OAPEN is an online platform for peer reviewed academic books in the humanities and social sciences. In collaboration with the Directory of Open Access Books index it offers services for discovery, aggregation and preservation of open access books and related metadata. Just recently the library passed the milestone of 4 million downloads since it started reporting COUNTER compliant usage statistics (September 2013).

We have reached a new milestone: over 4.2 million #openaccess #books downloaded. COUNTER compliant data by our partner @IRUSNEWS pic.twitter.com/ovPJGnK3ES

— OAPEN (@OAPENbooks) 29 maart 2017

User statistics for books unlatched by Knowledge Unlatched in the Pilot and Round 2 have been published in the fall of 2016 by KU. Just to give you an idea of the impact the Round 2 collection contains 78 books and these titles have reached just under 40,000 downloads. The average download per title (via OAPEN) is 503.[5]

Back to the yearly rounds of open access books. The second round (Round 2: 2015-2016) was much larger and consisted of 78 new titles from 26 scholarly publishers. In this round, the collection was built on five main disciplines, namely: anthropology, literature, history, politics and media & communications. Of course, I’m really happy with the last one, being one of the main disciplines of the KU book lists. This round was a success too and 78 books have been unlatched. 10 of them are dealing with the subject media and communication. This collection of 10 can be viewed and downloaded here.

The third round (2016-2017) includes 343 titles (147 front list and 196 backlist) from 54 publishers. Just recently it has been announced that for this round sufficient libraries have pledged.[6] This means that in the next few months the entire list will become available for free downloading.

The good news is that of those 343 books, for the media and communications studies list, 9 titles are brand new (front list) and 13 books are back list titles (not older then 2 years). I think it is a good move to add back-list titles as well, since we tend to focus on only the new and latest stuff. But as we all know in the humanities and social sciences books have a long(er) life. Publishers of these 22 media and communication titles are amongst others Amsterdam University Press, Duke University Press, Intellect, transcript Verlag, UCL Press, Ottowa University Press and University of Toronto Press. The books of round 2 will be made available on the OAPEN platform. Note that some of these publisher don’t charge BPCs. They see the KU project as an addition to their business model and an option to publish books in open access. Some, like UCL Press and Amsterdam University Press, have a standard open access option for all their books and charge BPCs.[7]

Normally I won’t post links to open access publications, since we have other spaces for this (Film Studies for Free and recently launched OpenMediaScholar) but for the sake of completeness I’m adding the following list of books that have been or will be published in the OAPEN library from early to mid-2017.

Frontlist

• Cinema, Trance and Cybernetics, by Ute Holl, published by Amsterdam University Press.
• Dying in Full Detail: Mortality and Digital Documentary, by Jennifer Malkowski, published by Duke University Press.
• Unbecoming Cinema: Unsettling Encounters with Ethical Event Films, by David H., published by Intellect.
• Digital Environments Ethnographic Perspectives Across Global Online and Offline Spaces, by Urte Undine Frömming, Steffen Köhn, Samantha Fox, Mike Terry (Eds.), published by transcript Verlag.
• Independent Theatre in Contemporary Europe: Structures – Aesthetics – Cultural Policy Theater, by Manfred Brauneck (Ed.), published by transcript Verlag.
• Performing the Digital: Performance Studies and Performances in Digital Cultures, by Timon Beyes, Martina Leeker, Imanuel Schipper (Eds.), published by transcript Verlag.
• The Web as History: Using Web Archives to Understand the Past and the Present, by Niels Brügger & Ralph Schroeder, published by UCL Press.
• eAccess to Justice Law, Technology and Media, by Jane Bailey, Valerie Steeves (Eds.), published by University of Ottawa Press.
• The Unmaking of Home in Contemporary Art Cultural Spaces, by Claudette Lauzon, published by University of Toronto Press.

Backlist

• Medium, Messenger, Transmission: An Approach to Media Philosophy, by Sybille Krämer, published by Amsterdam University Press.
• Cinema at the End of Empire: A Politics of Transition in Britain and India, by Priya Jaikumar, published by Duke University Press.
• Media, Erotics, and Transnational Asia, by Purnima Mankekar & Louisa Schein, published by Duke University Press.
• Crowd Scenes: Movies and Mass Politics, by Michael Tratner, published by Fordham University Press.
• The Digital Condition: Class and Culture in the Information Network, by Rob Wilkie, published by Fordham University Press
• Music and Levels of Narration in Film, by Guido Heldt, published by Intellect
• Undercover Reporting: The Truth About Deception, by Brooke Kroeger, published by Northwestern University Press.
• Hybridity, or the Cultural Logic of Globalization, Marwan Kraidy, published by Temple University Press.
• Feminist Media: Participatory Spaces, Networks and Cultural Citizenship, by Elke Zobl, Ricarda Drüeke (Eds.), transcript Verlag.
• Gaze Regimes: Film and Feminisms in Africa, by Antje Schuhmann, Jyoti Mistry, Nobunye Levin, Dorotheex Wenner, Christina von Braun, published by Wits University Press.

*Update (05-02-2017): Added more links of books available in the OAPEN library.

Notes

[1] Montgomery, L. (2015). Knowledge Unlatched: A Global Library Consortium Model for Funding Open Access Scholarly Books. p.8. http://www.knowledgeunlatched.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Montgomery-Culture-8-Chapter.pdf 

[2] Blog by Martin Eve: On Open Access Books and “Double-Dipping”. January 31, 2015.

[3] Interview with Frances Pinter, Knowledge Unlatched, January, 2013.

[4] Some literature on this topic: Ferwerda, E., Snijders, R. Adema, J. ‘OAPEN-NL – A project Exploring Open Access Monograph Publishing in the Netherlands: Final Report’ p.4.

Snijder, R., (2013). A higher impact for open access monographs: disseminating through OAPEN and DOAB at AUP. Insights. 26(1), pp.55–59. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1629/2048-7754.26.1.55

Snijder, R. (2014). The Influence of Open Access on Monograph Sales: The experience at Amsterdam University Press. LOGOS 25/3, 2014, page 13‐23, DOI: http://doi.org/10.1163/1878‐4712‐11112047  

[5] User Statics for the KU Pilot Collection and Round 2

[6] http://www.knowledgeunlatched.org/2017/02/ku-unlatches/ (February 2017)

[7] For a list of publishers active in the field of media studies and their OA models, see the Resource page.

Image credit: Designed by Photoangel / Freepik

When it comes to open access, often the emphasis in the debate centres on the publication of articles in scientific journals. Today in the Netherlands this is heavily influenced by ongoing negotiations around the ‘big deals’ with the large publishing houses, like Elsevier, Springer and Taylor & Francis.[1] But what is the status of open access for the academic ‘book’ (whether monograph or collections of thematic articles)?

A few months ago it was announced that the tender for the second pilot of Knowledge Unlatched (KU) had been successfully completed.[2] This effectively means that in the course of 2016, 78 books in the OAPEN open access platform will appear in the KU online library.

One step back. As mentioned above, the open access debate is dominated by journals. In recent years, many new online-only journals have appeared on the market, for example PlosOne. These online platforms gather large collections of articles from different disciplines. Although the oft-used term ‘mega-journals’ is a bit discredited for such platforms nowadays, it’s all a matter of volume and scale for these initiatives.

In addition to publishing platforms like PlosOne, or similar platforms set up by more traditional publishers (like the recently launched Collabra from California University Press, four ‘platform’ journals at Brill, the ‘Open’ journals at De Gruyter and the recently established Elsevier Heliyon), many publishing startups are flourishing. These ‘new kids on the block’ do not carry the burden of old and costly organizational and publishing traditions. These startups experiment with publishing formats, new forms of peer review, and interesting combinations made with (open) research data. Examples of such platforms are Peerj, Frontiers, the recently launched Open Library of Humanities and F1000research, which in fact is a bit older.[3] It is clear that within the journal landscape online experiments are happening one after another.

But, when it comes to open access publications, there is more to it than just publishing in journals. And that is books. They’re less visible in the debate, which is strange since in barely five years some small but significant developments have taken place for the academic book – traditionally the domain dominated by the humanities and social sciences. An example is the previously mentioned OAPEN platform. The FP7 project OAPEN project funded by the EU (duration: 2008-2011) was one of the first projects in the field of accessibility and long-term storage for open access books. Since that start-up support, the platform has transformed into an independent foundation with several publishing houses registered and adding books to the collection on a regular base. This has had a positive effect for the discoverability of open access books.

What is the situation today?

Established publishers are also moving towards new publishing forms. Examples of publishers with an active open access publishing book program include California University Press, Springer, Amsterdam University Press, Brill and De Gruyter. There are numerous new entrants, such as Open Humanities Press and Ubiquity Press. These publishers in the humanities and social sciences show a shift to an alternative model for book publishing in open access. This shift is also seen in the ever-growing availability of open access books in online databases or institutional deposit services (such as OAPEN), even if the totals are currently very low. In 2015 an estimated 65,000 academic books were published that year[4] but only 700 books were registered as open access and indexed in the Directory of Open Access Books, the book alternative to the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) which was established following the OAPEN platform.

DOAB obviously does not index every open access books, but the share of open access books remains small as a percentage of the total. The DOAB service started in 2012 and contains many backlist titles from publishers indexed in the first period that became available in open access. Figure 1 clearly shows that from that year a significant increase occurs in open access books. These books have become freely available immediately or after a short embargo period.

Even if academic books are not absent from the open access world, a proactive policy for publishing and financing such monographs and essay collections is still in its infancy. At this time, DOAB has more than 4,500 books available online, deriving from 150 publishers worldwide.

 

To get a better grasp of the processes around the publication of open access books, several recent pilots in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom have been organized around the OAPEN platform (OAPEN.NL and OAPEN.UK). Both pilots have developed extensive user studies and a lot of research has been done into the cost structure of open access books. Working together with publishers from the countries concerned was essential to gain a clear understanding of the publishing process (peer review and dissemination costs). Recently, a similar pilot project has been launched in Switzerland (OAPEN-CH). The results from all these pilot projects will hopefully inform wise policy decisions.

Another initiative to develop a healthy stream of open access books is the aforementioned Knowledge Unlatched project. In 2013-2014 KU launched a first pilot to offer a collection of 28 open access books by thirteen different publishers to research libraries. The model assumes that, with upfront commitments from libraries, significant cost savings can accrue per subscribing library. With sufficient bids (the threshold is around 300 libraries) books are then made available through OAPEN. At the end of 2015, a second pilot was presented with a collection of 78 books. Libraries had until February 2016 to register for this book collection. This pilot was also successful and in the course of 2016 78 books will be published in open access.[5] This KU-model makes a large collection of books available in open access within a rapid turn-round time. Some commentators argue that Knowledge Unlatched is a case of double-dipping. KU seems aware of this criticism and has agreed with the participating publishers that a reduction or waiver is used when the library indicates that a specific book is already ordered through another channel. This does require notification by the libraries, however.[6]

Significant challenges for open access books remain. For instance, in the current Research Excellence Framework (REF) in the UK, which covers the four-year period from 2015 until 2018 open-access-only books are not eligible for evaluation. Besides printed publishing formats only open access articles are eligible for the ratings of researchers. The REF determines the distribution of a great proportion of research funding. Ergo, an opportunity for a more structured form of financing of open access books in the UK is yet to be developed.

Also, in the UK, the HEFCE Open Access Monographs project was completed by Prof. Crossick. This evaluated the potential merits and challenges of open access for the scholarly monograph. This report complements the earlier Finch Report from 2012, where books were barely mentioned.[7] Its January 2015 report offered some important conclusions. For example, among others:

“Contrary to many perceptions, it would not be appropriate to talk of a crisis of the monograph; this does not mean that monographs are not facing challenges, but the arguments for open access would appear to be for broader and more positive reasons than solving some supposed crisis.”[8]

A ‘crisis’ might be too dramatic, but the fact that scholarly book publishing is in difficult and turbulent times, seems hard to deny. Sales of books on paper have been in steady decline since the 1980s.[9] Libraries are increasingly embracing the e-book and there seems a clear decline in the acquisition of the physical book by libraries. Crossick seems to require open access to be the sole answer this ‘crisis’ feeling, but it surely can simply be one contributor to a solution.[10]

The report also concludes that readers prefer printed books over the digital version. This should not be underestimated and would argue for the open access version to be subordinate to the print edition, which would not need to disappear.[11]

The continuing preference for printed books is confirmed by several studies and practice. Almost all publishers that have an open access publishing model for books use a ‘mixed model’ of online and print (+ e-book). In the OAPEN-UK pilot a survey among researchers examined the use of books.[12] By far the majority still prefer the paper book.

The HEFCE report also indicates that there is currently no single dominant model for open access books. All existing open access publishing models are still in a (sometimes very) experimental phase.[13] These models include fees per book (Book Publication Charge – BPC), charges by collections (Knowledge Unlatched), or simply just do it and hope for some income from the print edition (an example is Open Humanities Press).

When it comes to policy-makers and research funders the HEFCE report states:

“Policy will have to be developed in a context where it is unlikely that any one model for open access will emerge as dominant, and one in which an attempt to impose a single model through policy is unlikely to be feasible, let alone acceptable.”[14]

By contrast Austria has been active for almost a decade in funding open access books. The national research council there, the FWF, has been active since 2007 with an open access policy and appropriate financial support. Austrian researchers receive a subvention for costs in publishing books in open access.[15] This practice is now beginning to spread.[16]

Likewise, the Dutch Research Council, NWO, launched in 2010 the Incentive Fund for Open Access. This grew, following the successful results from the OAPEN-NL pilot mentioned before. And the University of Utrecht and Delft University both offer funds for open access books.

All these developments should hopefully lead to more examples of best practice and successes. The various studies referred to above have also led to two recent guides on book publishing in open access: the ‘Guide to Open Access monograph publishing for arts, humanities and social science researchers’[17] published by the OAPEN-UK pilot group and the ‘Open Access Monographs and Book Chapters: A practical guide for publishers’[18], published in July 2015 by the Wellcome Trust.

These manuals are intended to give the user a clear why and how? What editorial and technical issues must be taken into account? What are the different publishing models? Using research results gained in the various aforementioned pilots this has led to concrete recommendations not only for publishers, but also policymakers.

Many publishers in the humanities and social sciences are shifting in the direction of, or at least reorienting themselves towards, open access for books. But these developments are slow. There is currently too much risk of failure when it comes to for example the funding on both the side of publishers and researchers. We await more solid results from different open access publishing models. The traditional book on paper (still) matters but for the scholarly monograph open access increasingly offers wider and more efficient ways of distribution. It’s not either/or, but one and one makes two.

By Jeroen Sondervan.

This post has been previously published in Dutch.

Notes

[1] In 2014 universities in the Netherlands demanded open access in the contracts (‘big deals’) with major publishers (Elsevier, Springer, Wiley, Taylor & Francis, etc.). These negotiations only deal with journal articles.

[2] See press release of 11 March 2016 : http://www.knowledgeunlatched.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Scaling_Up_Press_Release_11Mar2016.pdf (accessed: 11 March 2016)

[3] This is obviously a limited selection. There are many other examples.

[4] These figures are drawn from the annual statements of YBP Library Services.

[5] See http://collections.knowledgeunlatched.org/packages/ for a comprehensive list of titles.

[6] More about double dipping in relation to open access books: http://hybridpublishing.org/2013/08/open-access-books-vs-double-dipping/ (accessed: 20 March 2016 ).

[7] Finch report 2012: http://www.researchinfonet.org/publish/finch/

[8] Crossick , G ( 2015). HEFCE Monographs and Open Access Project, 2015, p. 4..DOAB by year of publication012 cess publications

[9] See: Steele , C. ( 2008) ‘Scholarly Monograph Publishing in the 21st Century: The Future More Than Ever Should Be an Open Book. “Journal of Electronic Publishing [online] 11 (2), p. 4. DOI:  http://dx.doi.org/10.3998/3336451.0011.201 and Thompson, J. (2005 ) Books in the Digital Age: The Transformation of Academic and Higher Education Publishing in Britain and the United States, Malden MA, Polity Press.

[10] For more about this ‘crisis’ and nuance in the HEFCE report: https://openreflections.wordpress.com/2015/01/29/the-monograph-crisis-revisited/ (accessed: 17 March 2016)

[11] Crossick, G. p. 32-33

[12] OAPEN UK research survey 2012: http://oapen-uk.jiscebooks.org/research-findings/researchersurvey/  (accessed: 7 March 2016).

[13] Crossick, G. p. 65

[14] Ibid, p. 65

[15] https://www.fwf.ac.at/en/research-funding/fwf-programmes/peer-reviewed-publications/

[16] Ubiquity Press has presented a list in February 2016 with funds that support open access books.

[17] http://oapen-uk.jiscebooks.org/oaguide/

[18] http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/stellent/groups/corporatesite/Policy_communications/documents/webdocument/wtp059497.pdf