The Open Access Publishing Process for Books
Jump straight to:
- Open Access Policies and What to Expect
- Copyright and Permissions
- Submitting Your Open Access Proposal
Open Access Policies and What to Expect
Monographs
Green open access
All authored research monographs can take part in our green open access policy.
After the embargo period, you may place the proof copy of your monograph on your institutional repository. In addition you may place one chapter from the original manuscript (not the published version) of your monograph on any non-commercial, non-profit subject repository. You are responsible for retaining the PDF of the proof copy and for providing the PDF to your institution.
The embargo period is 36 months from the publication of the most recent edition. So, if a paperback is published after the hardback edition, the embargo extends to 36 months from the later paperback publication date.
This policy does not apply to textbooks, handbooks, edited collections, critical editions or reference works.
Gold open access
Gold open access is available for authored research monographs for a book processing charge of £8,000 (+ VAT if applicable), payable when you submit your typescript.
This policy only applies to authored research monographs. It does not apply to textbooks, handbooks, edited collections, critical editions or reference works.
Edited collections
For chapters in an edited collection to be made open access, the chapter processing charge (CPC) is £1,500 (+ VAT if applicable). Any number of chapters in a collection can be made open access, and the price of the ebook edition of the volume will be reduced to reflect the proportion of the book that is open access.
Books already published
Monographs
If the most recent edition of your book was published more than 18 months ago, you can flip it to open access for a book processing charge of £3,000 (+ VAT if applicable). For books published less than 18 months ago, the standard book processing charge of £8,000 (+ VAT if applicable) applies.
Edited collections
You can flip an individual chapter in an edited collection published more than 18 months ago to open access for a chapter processing charge of £500 (+ VAT if applicable). Again, if the most recent edition of the book was published less than 18 months ago, the standard chapter processing charge of £1,500 (+ VAT if applicable) applies.
From manuscript to open access book
Your manuscript will be reviewed, copy-edited and typeset to our usual high standards. The only difference is that the ebook will be available for anyone to access and download free of charge. Our open access pdfs and epubs are DRM-free.
Open access distribution
Edinburgh University Press will submit the open access ebook and supporting metadata to KU Open Services. They will integrate your book into all relevant indexing systems such as DOAB, Google Scholar, ProQuest Serial Solutions, ExLibris (Primo Central), EBSCO Discovery Service, Knowledge Base, Worldcat and others. Your book will be hosted on OAPEN, HathiTrust and JSTOR, and will be archived with Portico, CLOCKKS and MARC21-Records. Quarterly usage reports will give you insight to where and how your open access book is being used by academics around the globe.
Open access books are also available on this website. And you may also place the open access edition of your book in your institutional repository and any subject repositories of your choosing.
If we think there is a market for it, we will also print copies of your monograph, which will be available for sale. We will pay you royalties on any sales, as agreed in your contract.
Copyright and Permissions
Your copyright
Your work will still be copyright-protected. Gold open access books and chapters are published under a Creative Commons licence.
We recommend you select the CC-BY-NC licence, which means that anyone may download and share your work, but you must always be credited as the author and your work may not be reused commercially.
You may use a less restrictive licence if you prefer; just let your commissioning editor know.
Using third-party material in an open access publication
You may use third-party material as long as you have cleared permission to do so. You will need to mark this content clearly and state the terms under which it has been made available. This is to prevent anyone from reusing it without seeking the permission of the original copyright holder. If you are unable to clear permission to use the material within an open access format, you may not legally use it.
Submitting Your Open Access Proposal
Simply note in the open access section of your book proposal that you would like your book to be considered as an open access publication and give brief details about your source of funding. Then submit your proposal to the commissioning editor for your subject in the usual way.
If your book has already been contracted or has already published, get in touch with your commissioning editor to discuss changing your contract/book to open access.
