“Book is a book is a book is a book”? Open Access monographs and the changing nature of contemporary scholarly publishing.

Abstract

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Publishing an article in open access is hardly an act of courage anymore, as this model has been successfully applied to scholarly journals for quite a while now. The idea of publishing a book in OA is, on the other hand, still seen as a rather eccentric idea.  This presentation looks closer at this very eccentricity, examining current developments in the application of OA models with respect to books. It focuses on three main questions: successful business models, academic systems of career advancement and scholars’ attitudes towards open access. Although delivered by a publisher, rather than looking at the idea of open access monograph from a strictly business-related point of view, it seeks to paint a more nuanced landscape of the changing nature of the scholarly book itself and the challenges it faces. Using the open access model as a tool, it proposes to redefine the boundaries of the very nature of the contemporary scholarly monograph and encourages rethinking of the current mechanisms of construction and dissemination of knowledge.