The Importance of Being Open: publishing OA monographs

Long form research, including monographs, is starting to feature in research funder policy mandates. UK Research and Innovation have recently announced a monographs component to their open access policy, starting from 2024. This developing form of publication has many exciting advantages in making research openly available, but also comes with its own set of challenges.

This session will explore Open Monograph publishing primarily from a researcher’s point of view, and the alternative approaches and new models that are being developed. Chaired by Professor Chris Wickham, you will hear from a range of speakers who have published OA monographs or are involved in supporting the transition to them. This session will:

- Give an overview of the current situation with OA for long form research.

- Explore challenging areas within Open Monograph publication, especially the aspects of reputation and prestige, copyright, and the wide variety of publishing models.

- Hear from traditional publishers and an independent Open Access publisher on how they view the challenges and opportunities of Open Monograph publication.

- Discuss with Oxford Academics their experiences and the opportunities and challenges they faced with OA book publishing.

What you will need:

You will need to provide your own computer, ideally with the Microsoft Teams desktop app installed, otherwise with a browser (must be Chrome or Edge). Guidance notes for using Teams will be emailed to you when you book. You will need a speaker and microphone for listening and speaking. You need to be online with a reliable internet connection.

Notice of recording:

Each live online training session will be recorded for accessibility and inclusivity reasons and will be shared with all attendees after the session. It may also be put onto Canvas (Oxford University’s virtual learning environment) to enable other Oxford University members with SSO to view it.