Open Access Publishing
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The IHR encourages the development of Open Access (OA) publishing for historians and readers. Three of our books series are published Open Access, and we also provide workshops on OA for historians.
The IHR and Open Access publishing
The IHR advocates for developments in Open Access publishing that are sustainable and beneficial for the dissemination of high-quality historical research, while not being detrimental to historians and the profession, broadly defined.
We have three book series that are published Open Access:
In each case, titles are published without charge to authors or contributors, though fees are requested where external funders make provision for this.
All titles in this series are available free via JSTOR OA Books and the online publishing platform of University of London Press.
We also host regular workshops on 'Publishing for Historians', which include discussion of Open Access. With partner organisations such as the Royal Historical Society, the IHR also monitors developments in Open Access policy to assess its impact on historians.
About Open Access
All books in the IHR Conference and IHR Shorts series appear as Open Access from first publication, and are also available as print and ebook editions. All titles jointly published by the IHR and the Royal Historical Society in their New Historical Perspectives series also appear as Open Access.
Books in the series are published on the Humanities Digital Library, the University of London Press's online books platform, and JSTOR Open Access books.
What is Open Access?
Open Access (or 'OA') refers to the free access to and generally free reuse of published research. Usually the form and extent of this reuse is determined by a licence (for example, Creative Commons) granted by the person or organisation that holds the copyright to the content. Open Access represents an important shift in attitudes about the dissemination and utility of research, and the cost of access to research by readers
Open Access and journals
Open Access publishing is now well established in academic journals, where articles either appear as OA on first publication in a journal (known as 'Gold OA') or where a version of the published article becomes available as OA via an institutional repository after an agreed embargo period (so-called 'Green OA'). In the latter case, access to the published version in the journal usually remains behind a paywall.
Many funding bodies now require that research findings published as articles must be fully open access. Publishers of Gold OA content typically levy a fee (often known as an 'author processing charge' or 'APC') for making work available in this form, usually paid by the funder or an author’s institution.
The so-called ‘hybrid’ Gold and Green OA system has been accepted by UK and European research councils but is now being challenged by Plan S, a research initiative adopted by UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) in September 2018 which mandates new Open Access publication protocols for UK researchers (including historians) supported by specified funding bodies.
For ongoing discussions regarding these developments see the Royal Historical Society's reviews on Plan S and historians(Opens in new window).
Open Access and books
Books (monographs and edited collections) are not required to be published Open Access. Again, some funders state that books appear as OA and on these occasions 'book processing charges' are typically levied by publishers. While many academic publishers do offer OA publishing options, the great majority of titles appear in print, as ebooks for purchase, or as online editions behind a paywall.
However, the situation is fluid. In December 2016 a consultation on the Research Excellence Framework(Opens in new window) in the UK indicated an intention ‘to move towards an open-access requirement for monographs in the exercise that follows the next REF (expected in the mid-2020s)’.
Open Access guidance for authors
The Institute, together with our partners including the Royal Historical Society, runs regular workshops on publishing for historians. These workshops include introductions to Open Access publishing for journals and books. Details of forthcoming workshops appear in the listing of IHR Events.
The Institute also closely monitors developments in Open Access publishing, for example in 'Plan S' and future Research Excellence Framework panels, and facilitates discussion between historians on new initiatives.