Project description
The case for open access academic books
Academic books play an important role in scholarly production and research communication. Consequently, open access (OA) policies and strategies should utilise them to promote an open mode of operation across all disciplines. However, most OA funder policies and institutional strategies do not include academic books resulting in a slow uptake of OA for books. The EU-funded PALOMERA project will investigate the reasons preventing OA to academic books across geographies, languages, economies and disciplines within the European Research Area. The project will collect qualitative (including interviews, surveys, and use cases) and quantitative data to explain existing challenges and bottlenecks. PALOMERA will use this evidence to provide actionable recommendations and concrete resources to support and coordinate institutional policies for OA books.
Objective
Academic books continue to play an important role in scholarly production and research communication, particularly in the social sciences and humanities. As an important output of scholarly production, academic books must be included in open science/open access policies and strategies developed by research funders and institutions, to ensure that open science becomes the modus operandi of modern science across all disciplines. However, contrary to article publishing in journals (especially in the areas of Science, Technology, and Medicine) academic books have not been a focus point for open access (OA) policymakers. Consequently books are only rarely mandated to be published OA by research funders and institutions. PALOMERA will investigate the reasons for this situation across geographies, languages, economies, and disciplines within the European Research Area (ERA). Through desk studies, surveys, in-depth interviews, and use cases, PALOMERA will collect, structure, analyse, and make available knowledge that can explain the challenges and bottlenecks that prevent OA to academic books. Based on this evidence PALOMERA will provide actionable recommendations and concrete resources to support and coordinate aligned funder and institutional policies for OA books, with the overall objective of speeding up the transition to open access for books to further promote open science. The recommendations will address all relevant stakeholders (research funders and institutions, researchers, publishers, infrastructure providers, libraries, and national policymakers). The PALOMERA consortium broadly represents all relevant stakeholders for OA academic books, but will facilitate co-creation and validation events throughout the project to ensure that the views and voices of all relevant stakeholders are represented, promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion.This will assure maximal consensus and take-up of the recommendations.
Keywords
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-CSA - HORIZON Coordination and Support ActionsCoordinator
1000 Bruxelles / Brussel
Belgium