Periodic Reporting for period 2 - PALOMERA (PALOMERA - Policy Alignment of Open access Monographs in the European Research Area)
Reporting period: 2023-10-01 to 2024-12-31
Monographs and other types of academic books continue to play an important role in scholarly production and research communication, particularly in the social sciences and humanities (SSH). Developing an Open Science culture within the European Research Area (ERA) that aligns with the Council conclusions on high-quality, transparent, open, trustworthy, and equitable scholarly publishing (May 2023) therefore must include scholarly books in open access (OA).
However, the uptake of OA to books – defined here as scholarly peer-reviewed books including monographs, book chapters, edited collections, critical editions, and other long-form scholarly works – has been much slower and more cumbersome than that of journal articles. Many reasons for this have been suggested, including the culture of research practices in many SSH disciplines, the extensive editorial process and the prevalence of multilingualism in book publishing, specific industry related issues, (like royalties and print copy sales) etc.
Funder and institutional policies are key drivers of change. The adoption of OA policies for academic books is therefore important to ensure that researchers in SSH and other domains where books are an important medium of dissemination contribute to the Open Science culture change within the ERA.
The PALOMERA project set out to understand the landscape of OA policies and books in Europe and to suggest ways to increase the uptake of books in these policies and to foster policy alignment.
However, the uptake of OA to books – defined here as scholarly peer-reviewed books including monographs, book chapters, edited collections, critical editions, and other long-form scholarly works – has been much slower and more cumbersome than that of journal articles. Many reasons for this have been suggested, including the culture of research practices in many SSH disciplines, the extensive editorial process and the prevalence of multilingualism in book publishing, specific industry related issues, (like royalties and print copy sales) etc.
Funder and institutional policies are key drivers of change. The adoption of OA policies for academic books is therefore important to ensure that researchers in SSH and other domains where books are an important medium of dissemination contribute to the Open Science culture change within the ERA.
The PALOMERA project set out to understand the landscape of OA policies and books in Europe and to suggest ways to increase the uptake of books in these policies and to foster policy alignment.
In the PALOMERA project we collected data covering 39 ERA countries and all key stakeholder groups to gain a comprehensive understanding of the OA book policy landscape, to identify its strengths, gaps and possibilities for change and to see where alignment was opportune.
This work was fundamental to developing our evidence-based recommendations. In total we obtained 650 OA policy and policy-related documents, ran 42 interviews, and obtained 420 responses to a European-wide online survey among all stakeholders. We used the PESTLE factors (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and Environmental) as a basis to enable us to design, capture, and identify evidence that describes policy phenomena from several interrelated perspectives. Moreover, to evaluate the possibilities for ERA wide standardised metadata for open access books, we contacted national libraries via a survey.
This rich evidence has allowed us to see and formulate overarching recommendations and conclusions about the direction and status of OA book policies in Europe in an informed way. Looking at the situations across countries, it became clear that an internationally uniform approach to setting and formulating OA book policies is not viable. Nevertheless, a lot can be gained through cross-stakeholder cooperation not just nationally but also internationally, to share experiences and good practices in a collaborative environment.
This work was fundamental to developing our evidence-based recommendations. In total we obtained 650 OA policy and policy-related documents, ran 42 interviews, and obtained 420 responses to a European-wide online survey among all stakeholders. We used the PESTLE factors (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and Environmental) as a basis to enable us to design, capture, and identify evidence that describes policy phenomena from several interrelated perspectives. Moreover, to evaluate the possibilities for ERA wide standardised metadata for open access books, we contacted national libraries via a survey.
This rich evidence has allowed us to see and formulate overarching recommendations and conclusions about the direction and status of OA book policies in Europe in an informed way. Looking at the situations across countries, it became clear that an internationally uniform approach to setting and formulating OA book policies is not viable. Nevertheless, a lot can be gained through cross-stakeholder cooperation not just nationally but also internationally, to share experiences and good practices in a collaborative environment.
PALOMERA has produced important results that are beyond the state of the art. These include:
- Extensive and unprecedented research - report https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13827250(opens in new window)
- Actionable and evidence-based recommendations - report: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14049031 - resulting from the research of the project. The recommendations have - just like the research data collection and the analysis - undergone a thorough validation process among key stakeholders.
- The PALOMERA Knowledge Base, https://knowledgebase.oabooks-toolkit.org/(opens in new window) is a rich source for policymakers and other stakeholders who are searching for OA book policies in Europe. It’s an efficient tool for exploration and identification of policies within the 39 countries that we have researched. Research performing and funding organisations alongside national policymakers will be encouraged to add their OA policies to the Knowledge Base to ensure its future usefulness and relevance. Workflows for this are being developed involving a number of project partners. The technical maintenance of the Knowledge Base is secured by OAPEN, who has a strong track record in serving the OA books community.
- The OAPEN OA Books Toolkit, https://oabooks-toolkit.org/(opens in new window) now contains a new funder and policy section as a result of the PALOMERA project. This consists of short articles digesting the vast research that we have produced. In this way, our research findings are disseminated to a wide audience since the Toolkit (established in 2020) is already used globally by many stakeholders to gain knowledge about OA book publishing. The Toolkit is overseen by a large editorial advisory board representing relevant stakeholders in the field, promoted widely, and operated by OAPEN.
- A new OA book Funder Forum was established to specifically bring together research funders and some institutional and national policymaker representatives to discuss policy making in relation to OA books - report: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14049358.This(opens in new window) forum has proven to be of wide interest and over the four meetings held during the project, we have seen the participation of 24 countries. Research funders have confirmed their commitment to the continuation of this forum and Science Europe, cOAlition S, and OAPEN have agreed to jointly coordinate the forum supported by organisations like SPARC Europe and EUA. The forum will be named the Policy Forum for OA Books to clearly signal its purpose and scope (RFOs, RPOs, and national policymakers). The start of the Policy Forum is planned for the first quarter of 2025.
- Extensive and unprecedented research - report https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13827250(opens in new window)
- Actionable and evidence-based recommendations - report: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14049031 - resulting from the research of the project. The recommendations have - just like the research data collection and the analysis - undergone a thorough validation process among key stakeholders.
- The PALOMERA Knowledge Base, https://knowledgebase.oabooks-toolkit.org/(opens in new window) is a rich source for policymakers and other stakeholders who are searching for OA book policies in Europe. It’s an efficient tool for exploration and identification of policies within the 39 countries that we have researched. Research performing and funding organisations alongside national policymakers will be encouraged to add their OA policies to the Knowledge Base to ensure its future usefulness and relevance. Workflows for this are being developed involving a number of project partners. The technical maintenance of the Knowledge Base is secured by OAPEN, who has a strong track record in serving the OA books community.
- The OAPEN OA Books Toolkit, https://oabooks-toolkit.org/(opens in new window) now contains a new funder and policy section as a result of the PALOMERA project. This consists of short articles digesting the vast research that we have produced. In this way, our research findings are disseminated to a wide audience since the Toolkit (established in 2020) is already used globally by many stakeholders to gain knowledge about OA book publishing. The Toolkit is overseen by a large editorial advisory board representing relevant stakeholders in the field, promoted widely, and operated by OAPEN.
- A new OA book Funder Forum was established to specifically bring together research funders and some institutional and national policymaker representatives to discuss policy making in relation to OA books - report: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14049358.This(opens in new window) forum has proven to be of wide interest and over the four meetings held during the project, we have seen the participation of 24 countries. Research funders have confirmed their commitment to the continuation of this forum and Science Europe, cOAlition S, and OAPEN have agreed to jointly coordinate the forum supported by organisations like SPARC Europe and EUA. The forum will be named the Policy Forum for OA Books to clearly signal its purpose and scope (RFOs, RPOs, and national policymakers). The start of the Policy Forum is planned for the first quarter of 2025.