Academic Publishing

A collection of 32 posts

annual report

Open Book Publishers - Annual Report 2023

As we conclude the year, we take immense pride in reflecting on the multitude of exciting events that unfolded at OBP throughout 2023!

our authors

The Predatory Paradox: Ethics, Politics, and Practices in Contemporary Scholarly Publishing

In "The Predatory Paradox," Amy Koerber and her diverse team investigate the complexities of predatory publishing. The book addresses the paradoxical dynamics of rapid publishing demands and high citations contributing to the issue.

Our books

The Predatory Paradox: misinformation, fake news and clickbait in academic publishing

Read now a new blog post by OBP Volunteer Anja Pritchard on our Open Access title 'The Predatory Paradox: Ethics, Politics, and Practices in Contemporary Scholarly Publishing'

Open Book Publishers

15 Years of Open Book Publishers: An Interview with Alessandra Tosi and Rupert Gatti

Open Book Publishers (OBP), founded in 2008, celebrates its 15th year of operation this year. Read now an interview with Alessandra Tosi and Rupert Gatti where they discuss OBP's transformative journey in scholarly publishing.

Our books

Joys and sorrows of the noble art of academic writing - a survival manual

Read now a blog by our volunteer Maria Teresa Renzi Sepe on Dianne Conrad's latest title 'Research, Writing, and Creative Process in Open and Distance Education: Tales from the Field'

Academic Publishing

Is a Rights Retention Clause needed for OA books?

When discussing funder-imposed Rights Retention Strategies (RRS) there is an important consideration for funders of Open Access (OA) books that differs from journals. It will be explored in this post.

OBP Newsletter

OBP Spring Newsletter 2021

We have exciting news about upcoming events, new and forthcoming publications, an interview with our developer Ross Higman and information on our open CFPs. There’s lots to explore below, so dive in to find out more about our plans for the months ahead...

sign language

An Open Essay on the Personal and Profound Relevance of Simplified Signs

Read Jessica Davis' open essay on the relevance of the Simplified Signs project and her involvement in it.

sign language

Tackling Simplified Sign System Handshapes: Five Basics to Get You Started

Read Tracy T. Dooley's introduction to the Simplified Signs system's handshapes.

migration

On 'Liminal Spaces: Migration and Women of the Guyanese Diaspora' by Grace Aneiza Ali (ed.).

Read Domenic Rotundo's reflections on our forthcoming book 'Liminal Spaces: Migration and Women of the Guyanese Diaspora' by Grace Aneiza Ali (ed.).

Academics Featured

Publishing an Open Access Textbook on Environmental Sciences: Conservation Biology in Sub-Saharan Africa

By Richard B. Primack and John W. Wilson. The book contains hundreds of photographs from Africa, such as this cheetah family, which are published as CC BY 4.0. Photograph by Markus Lilje, CC BY 4.0. For the past six years we have been working to produce the first

Academic Publishing Featured

Why is open education resource creation, management and publishing important? Reflections for Open Book Publishers on Open Education Week 2020

Read this post to find out more about the take our authors and contributors have on OER creation, management and publishing.

Academic Publishing Featured

Is prestige a problem? Considering the usefulness of prestige in academic book publishing

A reliance on prestige in academic publishing limits the choice of authors and the accessibility of research, and it deadens innovation. What might we replace it with?

open education Featured

Open education is key to the future of learning

Photo by Nathan Dumlao [https://unsplash.com/@nate_dumlao?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText] on Unsplash [https://unsplash.com/s/photos/open-sign?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText] Education is the key to human development and social mobility. Education is also the engine

Metrics Featured

What We Talk About When We Talk About… Book Usage Data

An easy-to-understand explanation of how we collect our book usage data, and why we have started to present it differently.

Academic Publishing

OBP's responses to the UUK Open Access Monographs project questionnaire

OBP has participated in the data-gathering exercise that is currently being carried out by Fullstopp Gmbh on behalf of the Universities UK Open Access Monographs working group. The questionnaire, which is available online, has been designed to collect information that will inform future OA policy decisions, and in the spirit

Academic Publishing

OBP blogs on tour

We have recently contributed to two other blogs to talk about ScholarLed, the new OA consortium we have joined; and about the importance of Open Access publishing and what it can offer to authors. Catch up with those posts here! * University of Kent, Office for Scholarly Communication “Innovation in Scholarly

Academic Publishing

Further Reading

* An excellent Open Access quiz that covers many of the key issues https://www.lepublikateur.de/2018/08/27/open-access-quiz/ * A recently-released film about Open Access in academia, ‘Paywall: The Business of Scholarship’ https://paywallthemovie.com/ * An introduction to Open Access by Peter Suber [https://cyber.harvard.edu/~psuber/wiki/

Academic Publishing

Reputation, reputation, reputation – quality control and reward systems

In the past, Open Access publishing has been accused of being akin to vanity publishing or self-publishing, while the term ‘predatory publishing’ describes a phenomenon in which a publisher charges expensive fees for guaranteed publication while failing to provide peer review or even basic editing.[1] Reputable Open Access publishers

Academic Publishing

Copyright and licensing – what do I need to know?

When you create original work, you possess the copyright.[1] When you wish to publish that work, some publishers might ask you to sign the copyright over to them as a condition of publication, so that they can disseminate the work exclusively and therefore maximise its profitability. However, you do

Academic Publishing

Green, Gold, Diamond, Black – what does it all mean?

There’s a lot of jargon surrounding Open Access publication, and as with all jargon it can confuse and obfuscate. Here is a simple glossary: Diamond / PlatinumImmediate Open Access publication by the journal or book publisher without payment of a fee. Copyright may be retained by the author and permission

Academic Publishing

APCs, BPCs, can I have some money please – who pays for OA?

This is one of the most important questions for authors: if the reader doesn’t pay, who does? BPCs (Book Processing Charges) and APCs (Article Processing Charges) are fees levied on authors, their institutions or their funding bodies to pay for Open Access publishing (also known as author-side fees). It’

Academic Publishing

What should I ask a publisher about Open Access?

There are many academic publishers who publish Open Access work, including some of the most well-known such as Cambridge University Press, Harvard University Press, Oxford University Press, The MIT Press, Palgrave Macmillan, Springer, Elsevier, and so on. There are also publishers whose entire publishing output is made available on an

Academic Publishing Featured

An Academic’s Guide to Open Access

For Open Access Week 2018, we’ve put together a series of blog posts that cover the basics of Open Access for academic researchers. We hope they give you the tools to navigate this vital subject with confidence. * What should I ask a publisher about Open Access? [https://blogs.openbookpublishers.

Academic Publishing Featured

Why OBP is not participating in KU Open Funding: and why libraries should understand the reasons.

Knowledge Unlatched has recently announced the launch of a new platform to fund Open Access (OA) books. In this post, we explain our concern with this platform and why we won't be participating.