Do Books Belong in Open Access?

Open access is transforming scholarly journal publishing, yet the looming size of the journal ecosystem has thrown into deep shadow an equally remarkable transformation in scholarly books. In recent years, e-book acquisition rates and usage have soared. E-books offer multiple advantages, from acquisition models to accessibility and researcher engagement metrics.

In parallel with research coming out of the UK, an ongoing study by the US-based Book Industry Study Group is identifying the challenges in understanding the usage of OA e-books. This research will provide much needed documentation on e-book impact levels, especially for funders of open access publishing programs.

At the recent 2018 Frankfurt Book Fair, CCC’s Carl Robinson moderated a panel discussion on the viability of business models and the unique needs of OA books compared to OA journals. Guests were Brian O’Leary, executive director of the New York City-based Book Industry Study Group (BISG),and David Worlock, a longtime independent publishing analyst and co-chair of Outsell’s leadership programs.

View the full transcript here.

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Author: Carl Robinson

Carl Robinson has been in publishing since 1995 and has worked for Pearson Education, Macmillan Education and Oxford University Press. At CCC, Carl’s focus is upon helping clients look at business vision, goals and strategies around their content and tooling to enable flexibility and readiness to meet the ever-changing demands of the digital market.
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