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. This page provides details on UKRI's policy on publishing a monograph, book chapter or edited collection on or after 1 January 2024.
For further information on Open Access book publishing please view our guide on Open Access Books.
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.
UKRI have recently released their updated Open Access policy for long form publishing:
If you are publishing a monograph, book chapter or edited collection on or after 1 January 2024, you must follow the UKRI open access policy.
This applies to publications that need to acknowledge funding from UKRI or any of its councils. This includes funding from:
There is no requirement for monographs, book chapters and edited collections published before 1 January 2024 to be published open access.
Important: Please review the most up to date guidance from UKRI on making your monograph, book chapter or edited collection.
JISC have created a useful guide below that summaries the new UKRI Open Access long-form publication policy.
UKRI are providing specific funding to support their researchers to publish long-form publications that are in scope of their new policy. It is important that you follow their guidance carefully to make sure you are compliant with their policy. More information can be found in the UKRI's Open Access Policy Information Pack.
UKRI will support a range of open access models via their fund, including subscriptions to open agreements (also known as ‘diamond’ or collective models), book processing charges and book chapter processing charges.
UKRI will contribute up to the following maximums:
These amounts are inclusive of VAT, where applicable.
Up to £2,000, within the funding maximum for an output, can be applied for to support costs associated with clearing permissions for third-party content to be included in the open access version of the publication. However, these costs should be accounted for in grant applications, where possible.
The process for applying for UKRI funding for long-form publications is in two stages. Stage 1 is for UKRI to approve the publication is within its scope (it is advised that you do not sign a contract at this point in case your publication is out of scope). Stage 2 is to confirm the publication has been published in line with UKRI policy.
Both stages must be submitted by the University, further information will made available soon.