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Open Access

Open Access in the Humanities online course

Our online, interactive course, Open Access in the Humanities, has been developed in conjunction with the School of Advanced Study’s Doctoral Centre and is available via the RESHAPED platform – a training and community space for researchers in the humanities. This self-directed course is made up of three 20–30-minute modules covering the following topics:

1. What is open access

2. How open access works: funding, models and licensing

3. Making your publications open access

It features interactive activities and scenarios, knowledge checks, video interviews with experts and resource banks for further reading. Our aim with the course is to support researchers to consider and approach open access publishing options for their research with more confidence. Watch a short video demo of the course.

Introduction to Open Access Publishing

This session provides an introduction to open access publishing. Focusing on what open access is, the reasons for publishing open access, different types and models of open access for journals and books, expectations of researchers and how to handle potential challenges, the session equips researchers with the practical information they need to navigate today’s open access publishing landscape.

Session leaders

Dr Frances Pinter (Director, Academic Relations, Amsterdam University Press and Central European University Press; Senior Research Fellow, School of Advanced Study, University of London) and Dr Emma Gallon (Publisher, University of London Press).

Learning outcomes

By the end of this session you will be able to:

  • Describe what open access is and the background to open access publishing.
  • Recognise different open access models and approaches.
  • Consider the benefits of and reasons for publishing open access, as well as solutions to common open access issues.
  • Explore available open access publishing options and the steps to take if you’re planning to publish open access.
  • Identify the practical information you need to meet institutions’, funders’ and publishers’ requirements and policies on open access.

Slides and session materials

Useful resources

  • OAPEN OA Books Toolkit for Authors
    This is an excellent resource for anyone getting to grips with open access publishing for the first time. OAPEN promotes and supports the transition to open access for academic books by providing open infrastructure services to stakeholders in scholarly communication. They work with publishers to build a quality-controlled collection of open access books and provide services for publishers, libraries and research funders in the areas of hosting, deposit, quality assurance, dissemination and digital preservation, and operate three platforms: the OAPEN Library (a central repository for hosting and disseminating OA books), the OAPEN OA Books Toolkit, and the Directory of Open Access Books (a discovery service indexing OA books, in partnership with OpenEdition). 
  • Copim Compass
    This has lots of useful information for researchers on open access.
  • Jisc’s series of ‘Open Access Myth Busting’ sessions: 
    Jisc ran a series of 3 ‘myth busting’ training sessions in 2022, on themes including quality and prestige, copyright and third party rights clearance and compliance vs culture.  
  • Registry of Open Access Repository Mandates and Policies (ROARMAP) database
    This is a useful database which you can search to find out about OA mandates and policies from research funders, universities and other research institutions globally. 
  • UKRI Open Access ‘Making your research publications open access’: 
    This outlines guidance for researchers on UKRI’s open access policy.
  • Open Access Books Network: 
    The Open Access Books Network (OABN) is a collaborative network of publishers, researchers, librarians, research funders, infrastructure providers and individuals interested in conversations about open access books. The website features useful information on a range of topics, including a dedicated section for authors interested in publishing open access.
  • OABN/UoL Press ‘From Permission to Publication’ webinar:
    This webinar, which we co-ran with the Open Access Books Network, focused on the process of managing third-party materials in open access books. As well as our own presentation the session featured talks from an author, a legal expert and an OpenGLAM (galleries, libraries, archives and museums) specialist. A useful FAQs document was also produced following the session.
  • LSE guidance on Open Access book publishing contracts for authors:
    This guidance, created for LSE academics and researchers, provides an overview of some of the factors to consider before deciding to publish OA.