Open access monographs: perspectives from university presses – at WONKHE

As Research England formulates a requirement for open access monographs in future Research Excellence Frameworks (REFs), let us consider how university presses publish single-subject, often single-author, scholarly works and participate in the construction of a complex and, we hope, robust OA monograph equation.

Monographs have their own unique and valued publishing processes and scholarly purposes, requiring support and infrastructure. It is likely, therefore, that existing models for OA journals, which are typically composed of shorter scholarly pieces by multiple authors, may be of limited utility when devising protocols for OA monographs. The fundamentally different peer and editorial review processes, in particular, are esteemed by scholars for assuring the quality of published long-form works; similarly, marketing entails not just selling, but vital discovery and dissemination work essential to authors and readers alike. [continues here]