Open Access Monographs: Making Mandates Reality

Watch the VIDEO.
In early 2022 the major research funding body in the UK (UKRI), released a policy statement mandating Open Access (OA) monographs, with an implementation date of January 1st, 2024. This date will see a shift from a hypothetical future for OA books to a concrete policy with a hard deadline. Add to this the forthcoming mandates on OA books from cOAlition S/Plan S in Europe, and potential implications of the next research impact evaluation (REF) in the UK, and it is clear that there is a pressing need for libraries and academic book publishers to understand how the sector will meet the challenges of implementing these policies. 
In this session we will present the following questions: what is the transition to open access for scholarly books going to look like? What pitfalls and opportunities will it bring? Who is at risk of being excluded? How do we get from where publishing and libraries are today, to making these policies a workable reality in 2024? 
We will also pose the crucial question: how will this transition be paid for? 
We’ll demonstrate how Book Processing Charges (BPCs) worsen inequality by favouring the most wealthy institutions and authors. And we’ll highlight some collective library funding models that seek to spread the funding of OA books so that no single institution bears a disproportionate cost. These models range from the large and well-funded like MIT’s Direct 2 Open and Michigan’s Fund to Mission, to the COPIM project’s own Opening the Future model which is aimed at smaller mission-driven publishers like CEU Press and Liverpool University press.
With the clock ticking on imminent policies, conversation is urgently needed on the practicalities of making mandates reality. We’ll discuss what libraries can do to meet the challenge, and how supporting programmes like Opening the Future will ensure that the transition to OA is a sustainable and bibliodiverse one. The transition to OA should not leave smaller and medium-sized presses behind; nor should it rely on paying BPCs, which risks excluding any author without funding; and the transition must be sustainable for libraries.
We will demonstrate that the time to support collective funding programme pilots is now, in order that they can transition from pilot to implementable policy, to the benefit of all: opening up research for the public good and building an open, global ‘collection’ that is shared by libraries in common, around the world.


UK Research and Innovation vision and mission
Our vision is for an outstanding research and innovation system in the UK that gives everyone the opportunity to contribute and to benefit, enriching lives locally, nationally and internationally.
Our mission is to convene, catalyse and invest in close collaboration with others to build a thriving inclusive research and innovation system that connects discovery to prosperity and public good.

Open Access Review 2018 -2021
• In 2018, UKRI launched its Open Access (OA) Review • The Review process included: • Extensive engagement with stakeholders via roundtables and workshops • Evidence-gathering and analysis • Public consultation • Independent economic assessment

• Further information: Shaping our open access policy -UKRI
The policy applies to Research publications, as defined below, that need to acknowledge funding from UKRI or any of its councils, including Innovate UK and Research England.
• Peer-reviewed research articles submitted from 1 April 2022, including reviews and conference papers, that are accepted for final publication in either a journal, conference proceeding with an International Standards Serial Number (ISSN), or publishing platform.
• Monographs, book chapters and edited collections published from 1 January 2024 • Unless a contract has been signed between the author and the publisher before this date that prevents adherence to the policy. However, UKRI strongly encourages authors and publishers to make publications open access.
• In-scope long-form outputs are detailed further at Annex 1 in the policy.

Requirements for long-form publications
• From 1 January 2024, the policy extends to in-scope monographs, book chapters and edited collections. Institutions can support many of these agreements with a modest annual budget of £5k to £10k -this is often less than one BPCs Suzanne Tatham, Associate Director, Library, University of Sussex "Libraries have an important role to play in helping to build capacity for OA monograph publishing. One way to do this is by redirecting acquisition budget from pay-to-access to pay-topublish. This necessitates a different approach to evaluation. As monograph publishing shifts to OA, book processing charges (BPCs) will become increasingly unaffordable for institutions, so they will need to act collectively to support new collective subscription models."

What about book chapters?
We recognize that Open Access for book chapters is an important area of the UKRI policy.
•Introducing Chapter Processing Charges (CPCs) is problematic due to costs •There is potential for a 'green' route for Author Accepted Manuscripts (AAMs) We are exploring the potential for AAMs for book chapters •Roundtable events for publishers and institutions to discuss challenges of AAMs for book chapters •Up to 3 pilots to explore the policy in this area •Investigating metadata requirements for book chapters •Understanding infrastructure requirements to create an efficient workflow and reporting and to aid discovery Making it easier and reducing bureaucracy "There are shortcomings in the use of metadata and standards for OA books that limit interoperability and discovery, affecting the wider ecosystem around OA books". UKRI Gap Analysis of Open Access Monographs Infrastructure https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5771945 We will contribute to sector development of metadata and responsible metrics in order to: •Make it easier to find compliant routes, potentially Sherpa •Make it easier to find OA monographs and chapters, with Library Hub •Including the Library Hub team to ensure discovery of long form publications and book chapters Contribute to a joined-up approach with infrastructure services Reduce the administrative burden for our members regarding monitoring and policy compliance

Ongoing support for open monograph initiatives
Libraries are committed to open -Our values align -Willing to demonstrate that commitment financially -However, we still need to prioritise and be selective -we can't support everything What we expect in return for our investments -Good quality content and publishing opportunities -Open and transparent governance -Open and transparent finances and business plans

Changing the Library from within
Is Open truly embedded and integrated across all relevant library services? -Strategies and policies -Purchasing decisions -Tools and infrastructure -Catalogues and discovery services -Team structures -Roles and responsibilities -Internal training and awareness raising -Skills training for students and academics