Long-form outputs of research can take the form of a monograph (a book with the same authors throughout, this can be one or more), book chapter or edited collection (a book comprising of a collection of scientific or scholarly chapters).
As with the publishing of open access journal articles a large number of publishers charge a fee to make the Version of Record (VoR) book, book chapter, edited collection open access. This fee is also called a Book Publishing Charge (BPC). As a University our Open Access Policy is to follow the 'green route' for OA, it is important to note that the University does not have a central fund to pay BPCs.
However, if your research is funded you may be able to access support from your funders to publish Open Access. It is important that if you are funded you need to make sure that you are following their funding requirements surrounding monographs, book chapters and edited collections. Please see our funders guides for more information.
There are loads of different places that you can publish your long-form OA publications, and you need to consider which publishers will best suit your requirements (funder requirements, University Policy, research discipline etc). Here we will explain some of the different types of business models used in book publishing with links to resources for further investigation. All of the below business models barring BPC models are considered Diamond OA models.
|
Model |
Description |
Example publishers / service providers |
|
Book processing charge (BPC) / Open Access fee |
A fee is charged by the publisher in order for the ebook to be made open access immediately on publication; usually all ebook formats will be open access. The fee is typically paid by the author’s funder or institution. Please note that Teesside University does not have a fund to pay for BPCs. |
Bloomsbury, Brill, CUP, De Gruyter, Elsevier, InTechOpen, Manchester University Press, MDPI, OUP, Springer Nature (incl. Palgrave Macmillan), T&F (incl. Routledge), University of California Press (Luminos) |
|
Embargoed/delayed BPC |
A book is initially sold as a non-open access title, and a fee is charged by the publisher to make it open access at a later point. The fee is reduced as it is off-set by the initial sales period. |
Bloomsbury, Brill, Manchester University Press, T&F/Routledge |
|
Freemium |
A version of the ebook is made open access or freely available at no charge to the author; the free access is subsidised by other revenue sources, such as sales of other e-formats, print sales, and/or library membership fees. |
OECD, Open Book Publishers, OpenEdition, Open Humanities Press, Punctum Books |
|
Embargoed/delayed freemium |
A book is initially sold as a non-open access title, and is later made open access at no charge to the author if agreed criteria are met, for example after a sales target has been achieved or after a specified embargo period. |
Cambridge University Press, JSTOR/Path to Open |
|
Institutional subsidy / New University Presses (NUP) |
An institution subsidises publication at an open access press based at or associated with the institution. Fees may not apply or may be discounted; academics based at the institution may receive additional discounts or fee waivers. |
Lever Press, Scottish Universities Press, UCL Press, Universitätsverlag Göttingen, University of Huddersfield Press, University of London Press, University of Westminster Press, White Rose University Press |
|
Library Membership |
Libraries or other institutions pay an annual membership fee to a publisher that underwrites some costs of making books open access; the member institution and/or its authors may receive additional benefits such as discounts on book processing charges (BPCs). |
Open Book Collective, Open Book Publishers, Punctum Books, University of California Press (Luminos) |
|
Library consortium (‘’Institutional crowdfunding’’) |
Libraries pledge a fee towards making a collection of books open access, covering some or all of the costs between them. Once enough libraries have confirmed participation and the target amount is achieved, the collection is made open access. |
De Gruyter, Knowledge Unlatched, Transcript, KOALA, Jisc’s Open Access Community Framework, LYRASIS’ Open Access Community Investment Program |
|
Subscribe to Open |
Libraries subscribe to or purchase specified collections of closed-access books, which may include backlist titles. The subscription fees are used to fund open access for newly published books. |
Bloomsbury, Central European University Press, Liverpool University Press, MIT Press, University of Michigan Press |
|
Crowdfunding |
Individuals pledge fees to make a book open access; once enough individuals have confirmed participation and the target amount is achieved, the book is made open access. |
Unglue.it (typically in collaboration with publishers, e.g., CUP, OBP), self-published authors |
Table from OA-Books Toolkit (https://www.oabooks-toolkit.org/lifecycle/10944589-planning-funding/article/10432084-business-models-for-open-access-book-publishing) used under CC BY 
There are several resources that can help you identify OA book publishers which include:
Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB)
Additionally, OAPEN have produced an Open Access Books Toolkit which provides useful information for any researcher considering to author an OA book. Likewise, JISC have created a guide to Diamond OA for books and a guide for green route OA book chapters.
If you are following the green OA route you will need to deposit your work to the University's repository TeesRep. For guidance on how to deposit your work in TeesRep please visit our TeesRep guide.
An important part of the publishing process is to ensure that your publication complies with copyright law. This includes any third-party work that you may have included in your work, you must ensure are copyright compliant and the works are correctly attributed. Copyright requirements in open access publications can differ from licences and attributions needed in non-open access publication. If you are UKRI funded, find out more about how to manage third-party copyright to comply with UKRI’s open access policy (please make sure you check this regularly as the policy is updated regularly).
For more information about Open Access copyright please visit our OA copyright guide.