This document summarizes Dr. Frances Pinter's experiences promoting open access for scholarly monographs. It discusses various open access business models and initiatives, challenges around metadata and discoverability, and calls for stakeholders to work together on sustainable and cost-effective open access processes. Key points include Bloomsbury Academic's early adoption of open access, Knowledge Unlatched's crowdfunding model, and the importance of Central European University Press's mission. The document advocates for improving metadata standards, tracking usage data, and integrating open access monographs into libraries.

1. An Open Access Odyssey
Dr Frances Pinter
Central European University Press

2. Knowledge
Infrastructures
KIs - robust networks of people, artifacts, and
institutions that generate, share, and maintain
specific knowledge about the human and natural
worlds.
Including technology, intellectual activities,
learning collaboration, and distributed access to
human expertise and to documented information.
A complex ecology.
KIs are changing – reinforcing and redistributing
authority, influence and power.
Edwards, Paul N. et al, Knowledge Infrastructures:
Intellectual Frameworks and Research Challenges

3. Why are Monographs Important?
‘The long-form monograph is valued as
part of researchers’ reading and output in
ways that complement but are not
equivalent to journal articles.
Across all career stages, regions and
subjects, monographs are important to
knowledge, to scholarly debate, and as a
medium for dissemination, access, and
reference for scholars.’
Researchers’ perspectives on the purpose and value of the monograph: Survey
results 2019 David Clark, OUP & Mandy Hill, CUP
In HSS ‘writing a monograph is the research
process’
Geoffrey Crossick, Monographs and Open Access (Bristol: HEFCE,
2015)
Monographs in HSS are the foundation stones
upon which knowledge is continuously built.

4. Post Pandemic Era
Contraction of Knowledge Infrastructures
But parts will not contract at the same rate
Chaotic adjustment period
Scrabble for resources
Unintended consequences
HSS shrinks more than necessary
A period of foundation building lost
The cumulative global knowledge of
humankind will suffer

5. An Alternative Post-
Pandemic Scenario
Good and fair OA business models
Flexible ways of flipping more monographs
into OA that work for everyone
Reduce rapidly the Metadata Mess
Monitor usage growth
See more monographs integrated into
teaching materials – no pay barriers
Strengthen HSS
Requires a transitional period in which to
experiment with new models and new
workflows

6. My Open Access Odyssey –
Lessons Learnt
• Bloomsbury Academic
• Manchester University Press
• Knowledge Unlatched
• Central European University Press
• Wits UP, ANUP, Univ of London UP

7. Bloomsbury Academic
• Founded in 2008 with OA as its USP
• Unfunded OA – assumed print would still sell in
sufficient quantities to cover costs (and they did)
• Attracted authors and series editors who were early
advocates of OA
• As OA ebooks became more visible, print declined
• Now BA offers a standard BPC route

8. Manchester
University Press
In 2015 had 100 backlist titles on OA
Downloads 208 countries
MUP had broader brand recognition
than (as I said to the Vice Chancellor)
than Manchester United!
Monographs read by more than just
academics
Importance of spreading the good
news about OA around your university

9. Knowledge Unlatched
A Crowdfunding Model with a Very Special
‘Crowd’ – Librarians
• Original objective – find a way to
redirect existing library monograph
acquisition funds to OA
• But – still largely funded from OA
budgets
• Monograph ‘flipping’ will probably be
through a set of multiple models

10. Central European University Press
• English language UP in Budapest and Vienna
• CEU at frontline defending democratic values and open society
• Students from 120 countries, faculty from 40
• A Press with a vision that aligns with the values of the university
• 25 monographs & research based edited collections per annum
• Print sales in decline
• Mid March – July 2020
oJSTOR expanded access to participating institutions – 34,000
accesses in 1700 institutions in 92 countries
oMUSE Open to anyone visiting MUSE - 315,000 full text hits in
129 countries
• Currently modelling new ways of making books OA

11. OA Funding Models
for Monographs
1. Research Funding Bodies
2. Institutions
3. University Departments
4. Crowdfunding
5. Foundations
6. Membership
7. Collective models

12. Some General Observations
• More UPs and small presses in HSS than STEM
• Profit margins low or non-existent
• Subsidies from parent universities make UPs vulnerable
• Libraries who want to support OA spend a lot of time on OA
administration
• Last few months demonstrate value of HSS content

13. What we can do together to Promote Viable
Cost-effective OA Processes
• Spread the good news from lockdown OA statistics
• Engage even more with all stakeholders
• Squeeze out unnecessary and hidden costs
• Experiment with new models
• Include OA monographs in libraries’ collection management and
development policies
• Invest in metadata improvements all along the supply chain

14. More on Metadata
Discoverability
Acquisition and Access
Usage tracking
Investment in better metadata needed
• ONIX and MARC
• DOIs – standardize usage and apply at
chapter level
• Tidy up digital ISBNs, Orcids, & other
registries and identifiers

15. And More on Metadata –
a job for all stakeholders
• Why are metadata records inconsistent as they travel down
the pipeline?
• Signpost OA editions better
• Make availability of OA & paid editions clearer
• Understand intermediaries’ costs

16. Typical book supply chain showing metadata and usage data flows,
https://digitalscience.figshare.com/articles/The_State_of_Open_Monographs/8197625/4 (Grimme et al., 2019)

17. Some Developments in
Europe
Plan S
• Publications resulting from research
funded by public grants must be in
compliant Open Access journals or
platforms by 2021.
• Mandated by cOAlition S – 16 national
funders, four charitable &
international funders and the EU
• Plan S has extended its remit to cover
monographs and research based
edited collections by 2024

18. Community-led Open Publication
Infrastructures for Monographs
A UKRI and Arcadia funded initiative
• Developing technical protocols and infrastructure
to better integrate OA books into institutional
library, digital learning, and repository systems
• Consolidating best practices for both minimum
and enhanced metadata requirements to assist all
stakeholders in the supply chain
• Working towards standardising the data on all of
the different platforms
• Calling for better & more transparent linkages with
parallel sales channels
• Working to streamline workflows
Building an Open Dissemination
System Mapping the minimal
metadata requirements for the
interaction of OA presses with the
scholarly communications supply
chain, COPIM, July 2020
-----------------------------------------
Also see the work of OPERAS and
HIRMEOS –EU funded projects on
distributed research infrastructure
------------------------------------------------------------------
OA platforms and directories
OAPEN
DOAB
ORL

19. A Selection of US Initiatives
• Sustainable History Monograph Pilot
• Fulcrum
• Lever Press
• TOME
• MIT Press (coming in 2021)
• Invest in Open Infrastructure
And many more…

20. Call To Action!
Spread the Word
Lobby for Resources
Engage with Experiments
Insist on Transparency