Monographs and Book Chapters: Publishing in Open Access
The University of Stirling participates in publishing agreements, programmes, and other arrangements that support free or discounted open access publishing of longform outputs like monographs, book chapters, and edited collections for Stirling-affiliated authors. Some alternative models are broader in scope and support no cost open access publishing for all authors.
Below is a summary of different publishing models and presses which support open access publishing of longform outputs and a non-exhaustive list of examples of publishers. You can consult a more comprehensive list of individual publisher policies and cots through a community-curated spreadsheet of publishers and publishing costs: the Open Book Environment (OBE) Dashboard. Jisc’s Open Policy Finder also includes a specific tool on Open Access for Books.
Publishing options which allow open access publication (under a Creative Commons licence) of the Version of Record will generally permit authors to comply with funder requirements. Certain self-archiving routes may also be compliant (check embargo and licensing conditions). However, it remains the author’s responsibility to ensure they take the necessary steps to comply with any applicable requirements. You should ensure you have a compliant publication route (including securing any funding) before entering into an agreement with the publisher.
Certain publishers use an open access publication model which makes available an online version of the output in open access under a CC licence but may produce other print and electronic versions (usually in a different format) which are available at a cost to users. This is still considered a suitable open access publication route.
A Glossary of Open Access terms is provided online.
Contact openaccess@stir.ac.uk with any questions about publishing longform outputs in open access. Be sure to reach out with any questions and, if necessary, secure funding, in advance of signing an author agreement with the publisher.
The University’s OA Fund and Library contribute funding to support some of these OA publishing arrangements, but it may still be necessary for authors to pay a Book or Chapter Processing Charge (BPC/CPC) in which case additional funding support from the University’s OA Fund or the UKRI OA Block Grant (for UKRI-funded outputs) may be available.
Authors should note that UKRI will provide a maximum of £10,000 (incl. VAT) in open access funding towards a single monograph and £1,000 (incl. VAT) towards a single chapter. The University will not normally supplement this amount through the OA Fund and authors who require additional funding may need to secure such funding directly. Where an application is made to the University’s OA Fund for non-UKRI funded longform outputs, funding amounts will not generally be approved in excess of UKRI’s maximum amounts. Throughout this webpage, the term ‘Funding Limit’ refers to the amounts above. Authors are encouraged to consider publishers whose fees fall within the Funding Limit in a first instance but should feel free to contact openaccess@stir.ac.uk to discuss further.
Guidance on accessing additional OA funding where necessary is available from the University’s OA Policy webpage and applications can be made through the University Portal by selecting ‘I want to… Apply for APC Funding’ from the menu.
A growing number of fully open access publishers use funding models which do not require that the author pay a fee for publishing. Funding models generally rely on contributions by institutions and/or other funders to support the publisher’s activities. These models are sometimes called ‘diamond OA’ or ‘community-supported publishing’. ‘Direct to Open’ models (D2O) fix a funding threshold(s) which, when reached, triggers the open access publication of monographs in a specific collection(s). Supports contribute programme fees on an annual basis and the publisher part-funds this model through other revenue streams.
In certain cases, it may be possible for the University to supplement its contributions with funding from UKRI (up to £6,000) if a Stirling-affiliated UKRI-funded author publishes with one of these publishers. Please let us know at openaccess@stir.ac.uk if you are publishing a longform output with a publisher who uses this model.
Publishing options
Depending on the publisher, Stirling-affiliation may be required to publish in open access or All authors are eligible to publish in open access regardless of institutional affiliation or research funding.
Examples of no cost open access publishers
- Language Science Press
- Open Book Publishers
- MIT Direct to Open (D2O)
- Punctum Books
- Aberdeen University Press
- Pretoria University Law Press
- University of London Press (‘Core’ OA book series only; additional books may be subject to a BPC)
Several University and Independent Presses have been established as fully open access publishers and many more have open access options. Costs vary according to the length of the monograph; BPC for shorter works may be within the Funding Limit (UKRI or the University OA Fund) while others may be over the limit and may even require significant additional funding.
Some publishers may be willing to negotiate a reduced BPC to permit compliance with funder requirements and recognising the limit on available funding. You should raise the subject of the open access publishing costs early in your discussions and ensure you have secured all necessary funding before entering into an agreement with the publisher.
Scottish Universities Press
The Library is a partner in establishing a cost effective fully open access Universities press for Scotland. The press accepts submissions on any subject and welcomes interdisciplinary works. SUP charges smaller BPC than traditional university presses or commercial presses due to its other funding streams. These BPC are within the maximum Funding Limit (UKRI or University OA Fund) and Stirling-affiliated authors can apply for UKRI OA Longform funding or apply to the University OA Fund to cover the open access costs with these presses. You should apply before entering into an agreement with the publisher.
Other Presses: publishing options
Stirling-affiliated authors should confirm the publishing costs (incl. VAT) and apply for funding before entering into an agreement with the publisher.
Stirling-affiliated authors can apply for funding support up to the maximum Funding Limits, subject to funding eligibility and availability. Authors should apply either for UKRI OA Longform funding or to the University OA Fund.
Examples of other university or independent presses
The BPC for these presses is generally within the Funding Limit for manuscripts up to approx. 100k words but authors should check the guidance from a particular press for specific information, including CPC where applicable.
- UCL Press
- White Rose University Press
- University of Huddersfield Press
- Bloomsbury Press
- Bristol University Press (15% discount on BPC for Stirling authors)
- Edinburgh University Press
- Liverpool University Press
- Boydell & Brewer
Established commercial presses will often vary BPC according to the length of the monographs and while the BPC for some shorter works may be within the Funding Limit (UKRI/University OA Fund), authors are generally likely to require access to significant additional funds.
Some publishers may be willing to negotiate a reduced BPC to permit compliance with funder requirements and recognising the limit on available funding. You should raise the subject of the open access publishing costs early in your discussions and ensure you have secured all necessary funding before entering into an agreement with the publisher.
These publishers will generally also offer a non-OA publishing route at no cost. Authors whose funders require open access must ensure they have a suitable compliant open access route (e.g. via a repository) if they decide not to pay for open access through the publisher. If you are not certain you have a compliant route, you should review the publisher’s self-archiving (‘green OA’) policy and your funder requirements and contact openaccess@stir.ac.uk.
Examples of commercial presses
The BPC for these presses is generally within the Funding Limit for manuscripts up to approx. 100k words but authors should check the guidance from a particular press for specific information, including CPC where applicable.
If your longform output is not published in open access on the publisher’s platform, it may be possible to share it freely or openly (with reuse permissions) via the University repository (STORRE). This may be particularly relevant for book chapters in edited collections.
Many publishers will have a self-archiving (‘green OA’) policy which governs how you can share your monograph or book chapter in the University’s repository. This normally specifies an embargo period and may have licensing restrictions. You may not be able to share the full manuscript of a monograph but be limited to a portion of the work (e.g. a certain % or a single chapter); you will generally be able to share a full chapter you have authored in a collected edition.
The University strongly encourages you to create an output record via Worktribe for any longform output (including those published in open access). Wherever possible, include the accepted manuscript. Where it is permitted to make this available, the Library team will do so, in accordance with the publisher’s policy.
OAPEN OA Books Toolkit
The OAPEN Foundation has created an open access (OA) books toolkit for researchers and academic book authors. The toolkit is a free-to-access, stakeholder-agnostic resource that aims to help authors better understand Open Access for books, increase trust in Open Access book publishing, provide reliable and easy-to-find answers to questions from authors, and to provide guidance on the process of publishing an Open Access book.
Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB)
DOAB is a community-driven discovery service that indexes and provides access to scholarly, peer-reviewed open access books and helps users to find trusted open access book publishers. All DOAB services are free of charge and all data is freely available.