Open Access Books – A Growing Phenomenon

Open access (OA) is a growing phenomenon in the academic publishing industry. Yet, for as popular as OA journal publishing has become, OA book publishing has seen a slow progression forward, with few researchers taking advantage of the opportunities it affords. IGI Global provides researchers the option to publish not only journals and articles under the OA publishing model but books and book chapters as well. The differences between OA and traditional/non-OA book publishing are explained below, as well as key items for researchers interested in OA book publishing to thoughtfully examine.

Benefits of Publishing With IGI Global: Traditional and Open Access Publishing Models Honorariums & Royalties Free Use of the eEditorial Discovery® Submission System Flexible Timelines (Less Than 1 Year, if desired) Rigorous Double-Blind Peer Review Process Quick Links Submit a Book Proposal Submit a Journal Proposal Call for Papers Research Areas of Interest Peer Review Process

OA is incredibly important as it allows audiences full access to top-notch and impactful research. Everyone from researchers to students can discover and use OA content at no additional cost to them. OA books provide a range of benefits such as networking opportunities with other experts and high discoverability. Additionally, due to this discoverability, OA publications have a higher citation impact and increased potential of being indexed in top indexes such as Scopus or the Web of Science Book Citation Index.

OA books can be circulated through a wide range of platforms and reach audiences traditional published books cannot. The most direct way to spread important research to the audiences and colleagues it is intended for is to make your next book an OA book.

Authored or edited scholarly monographs can be submitted for OA publication as long as they follow IGI Global’s normal reference book criteria (content should be research-based and for advanced audiences). All IGI Global book formats can be published as OA. Typically, books based on papers from conferences, grant-funded research, topics mandated to be open access (ex.- public policy, public health), books intended to be used in graduate courses, etc., benefit most from the OA model, but this certainly does not exclude any forward-thinking and innovative books that researchers wish to have openly available to
the community.

For a full list of IGI Global book formats and their descriptions, please see the Products page.

• Books must contain new and unpublished content.
• Books use the same eEditorial Discovery^® submission system for authors and editors to manage their projects.
• Books must undergo a double-blind peer review process to ensure accurate, high-quality content.
• Editor and Author responsibilities remain the same for both:
• Edited Books – Editors are responsible for the recruitment of chapters, the management of the double-blind peer review process, and the submission of additional front and back matter (i.e., Preface, Introduction, Conclusion, etc.).
• Authored Books – Authors are responsible for writing and submitting all chapters and for making necessary revisions based on reviewer feedback.
• Chapters should be professionally copyedited prior to submission to the book.
• IGI Global’s Author Services is an option that authors and editors of OA books may wish to utilize as it provides high quality, affordable, and expeditious content and editing services ranging from scientific and scholarly editing services to English language copy editing. Professional editing improves the quality of work, leading to minimized revision times and increased potential for acceptance by eliminating the distractions that poor quality content can cause. Importantly, any fees paid for IGI Global’s Author Services will be deducted from the OA Book Processing Charge (BPC) or Chapter Processing Charge (CPC) (see more information about the BPC and CPC below).
• Books follow the same edited or authored development and production process (i.e., formatting, copy editing,
  typesetting, etc.).
• Books receive promotional and marketing support and are hosted on online platforms, globally distributed, and submitted to reputable indexing databases such as Scopus.

The main difference between traditional books and OA books at IGI Global is the access level.

• Copyright: OA books receive the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licensing arrangement. The copyright for the work remains solely with the author(s) of the article. Others may distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon the work, even commercially, without asking prior permission from the publisher or author and so long as they credit the author for the original creation.

  This differs from traditional books, where authors sign a Transfer of Copyright agreement that transfers the copyright of the chapters to the publisher.

• Accessibility: Under the CC BY 4.0 licensing, the content from OA books is completely freely accessible to everyone immediately upon publication. There is no embargo of content, and anybody may download the full book and/or chapters.

  Under the traditional model, books are released behind a paywall and users must purchase the content in order to have access to the research.

• Publishing Fees: Because the content does not have to be purchased to be used under the OA model, a Book Processing Charge (BPC) must be paid by the author(s), editor(s), or their funding body prior to the book’s final publication. Read more about BPCs below.

  There are no publishing fees for publishing under the traditional model with IGI Global.

• Royalties: Editors and authors of OA books do not receive royalties for the publication of the book as the book is completely free to access and affords wider discoverability and usability, as well as a plethora of other incentives and opportunities.

  Editors and authors of traditionally published books receive royalties on the publication of the book.

OA books can be published under the OA model in a few different ways.

• Fully Funded Books: This method involves the full upfront funding of the book from its initial proposal submission. Funding is typically secured from a funding body and covers the entirety of the Book Processing Charge (BPC) (discussed later in this article). This means that authors that submit chapters to an edited book do not have to pay an individual Chapter Processing Charge (CPC). This is the most preferred method for publishing an OA authored book.
• Individual Funded Chapters: This option is particularly for edited books. Instead of the editors securing funding to cover all costs associated with the book, it relies on all the authors who are submitting chapters to the book to secure their own funding to pay an individual CPC.
• Hybrid Open Access: This option is strictly for edited books and allow chapter authors to decide if they would like to publish their chapter as OA or traditional (non-OA). If they publish traditionally, there are no publishing fees. If they choose to publish OA, they would have to pay a CPC.

A Book Processing Charge (BPC) is a fund that covers the OA publishing of an entire book’s contents. It is charged to provide the funds the publisher needs in order to develop the book. These funds would have typically been covered by the profit the book made after publication through users purchasing the content. However, as OA allows for free access of the content, publishers must recoup the payment of services through the BPC. The BPC covers:

• Digital tools used to support the manuscript management and review process.
• Typesetting, formatting, and layout.
• Online hosting.
• Submission of the book’s content to numerous abstracts, directories, and indexes.
• Third-party software (e.g. plagiarism checks).
• Editorial support which includes manuscript tracking, communications, submission guideline checks, and communications with authors and reviewers.
• All promotional support and activities which include metadata distribution, press releases, promotional communications, web content, ads, fliers, brochures, postcards, etc. for the book and its published contents.
• The fact that all published chapters will be freely accessible and able to be posted and disseminated widely by
  the authors.

The Chapter Processing Charge (CPC) covers the costs of converting one single chapter to OA, meaning that the chapter will be published with a CC BY 4.0 license and be freely accessible to all upon publication, even if the rest of the contents in the book are not OA. The CPC covers the same costs that the BPC covers.

For book chapters, the CPC fee is not required to be paid until after the chapter has undergone the double-blind peer review process and is formally accepted at the editor’s discretion into the book publication. A single chapter BPC is $2,000 USD.

Books and book chapters can be opened as OA after their initial publication.

• Retroactive Book Conversions: The normal BPC pricing applies; however, any profit the book has made through sales since its release will be deducted from the final price.
• Retroactive Chapter Conversions: For book chapters being retroactively opened, the table below outlines the pricing model based on the copyright year in which the chapter was originally published.

Moreover, if authors or editors have chapters or full book projects currently in the development stage and would like to convert their submissions to OA, we encourage them to contact the Open Access Team immediately at openaccessadmin@igi-global.com.

There are a number of resources to help cover the costs of BPCs and CPCs; however, institutions and libraries are the best places to begin looking for funding for an OA book or chapter. IGI Global also understands the difficulties of securing funding and offers flexible subsidies, 100% Open Access waivers, discounts, and more.

• IGI Global’s OA Fee Waiver Initiative:  For any library that invests in IGI Global's e-Book and/or e-Journal Collections, IGI Global will match the library's investment with a fund of equal value to go toward subsidizing the OA BPCs or CPCs for their patrons. This provides authors with 100% OA subsidies to be utilized toward OA publishing in any IGI Global book.
  Learn More >
• As was mentioned previously, any author or editor who utilizes IGI Global’s Author Services will be able to have the amount paid for such services deducted from the BPC or CPC.

Below are common OA funding resources that provide additional information on country funding, OA standards, and more.

• Sherpa Juliet is a searchable database of research funders' OA policies.
• The Open Access Directory maintains a list of institutional funds for OA publishing.
• SPARC maintains a list of North American universities and university libraries with OA funds.

Editors and authors interested in starting a new full book project should first fill out and submit an online book proposal form. Within the form, it is important to note the intention to publish the book as OA as well as how the BPC will be paid.

Authors interested in publishing OA chapters should submit their chapters to relevant books utilizing the Call for Chapters page and inform the editor(s) of the book as well as the Open Access Team at openaccessadmin@igi-global.com of their intention for the chapter to be published as OA. Those wishing to retroactively convert their book or book chapter to OA may also contact the Open Access Team.

For more information on OA publishing, please visit the Open Access Publishing page. For questions regarding OA full book publishing, please contact the Acquisitions Team at acquisitions@igi-global.com.

Author Relations Team
(717) 533-8845
authorrelations@igi-global.com
www.igi-global.com