Benefits of Open Access monographsHigh quality research published in a monograph can be made more visible and have greater impact if published as an Open Access monograph.
It is increasingly difficult for libraries to purchase every research monograph and make them available to students and researchers. With print-only monograph publishing, it is difficult to reach a wider audience quickly, with the result that citations are delayed by several years. Making your monograph Open Access has the potential to increase citations and to do this more quickly.
The University has a small fund to support Open Access monograph (research book) costs for unfunded authors. You should also consider requesting contributions from your School or Research Division.
There is a separate request process for UKRI funded authors. See our Funders' Open Access policies guidance.
Criteria for requesting funding from the University's Open Access monograph fund, all apply:
There is no set limit for each request, though you should be mindful of cost as it will be a factor that is considered as part of the request. Open Access charges vary between publishers and page length. Our recent payments show average costs for monographs ranging from £5,500 to £13,200.
To request funding, please complete the Open Access monograph funding request form. NB Applications should be submitted no sooner than 12 -18 months before the expected publication date.
Please note that this is a small fund and funds are limited. Requests will be assessed twice per year by our Open Access Monographs Panel and the results will be communicated to you as soon as possible after this.
If you are not eligible for the University’s monographs fund, or your application is rejected, you may decide to publish without University funding for Open Access or to explore other routes to achieving Open Access.
We do not pay Open Access fees for whole edited collections or single chapters.
It is worth noting that many publishers allow chapters to be deposited in an institutional repository. It is always preferable to sign up to publishers that permit Green Open Access in the first instance.
If you have a chapter in an edited collection, please check with your publisher which version they will permit you to deposit in an institutional repository. If this is not possible, please contact us for advice.
Particularly in the humanities, copyright costs can be incurred for the use of images in publications, and making them Open Access can incur an additional fee. We understand that it can be to the detriment of many monographs if the reader cannot see the images contained in the print version, so we will consider any requests for copyright clearance fees to make the images available in the Open Access version of the monograph.
The panel is responsible for managing the University's small Open Access monograph fund and for reviewing applications to the fund from University of Reading staff.
Panel members are:
The first point of call for funding should be your external funder, if you have one. It is important to put in a case for Open Access costs when you put in your research grant application.
Open Access monograph costs are considered to be an allowable cost in AHRC and ESRC grant applications. These may be included as a "Directly Incurred Other Cost" and will need to be fully justified in any new grant application. It is important to put in a case for Open Access costs when you put in your research grant application. This applies to all funders, who may have similar options, so be sure to find out if a funder will pay the cost before applying to the University for funds. Costs can be claimed from funders as long as the grant is still live.
From 2024, UKRI will require any chapters or monographs arising from research that they have funded to be Open Access. See our Funders' Open Access policies guidance.
The Wellcome Trust Open Access policy requires all monographs and chapters for which they have provided funding to be made Open Access. If you have a Wellcome Trust grant they make funds available for the payment of publishers’ Open Access processing charges but do not pay publishers directly. Please see Wellcome guidance about requesting Open Access funding. To request funds you will need to contact the Wellcome Trust and also oarequests@reading.ac.uk with details of your Wellcome Trust contacts and publisher contacts. The University will pay the publisher, then claim back the costs from Wellcome.
Where you publish is down to you, but you should always consider the possible reach of the publisher you select, and this includes their ability to publish monographs as Open Access. There are many developing options for Open Access monograph publishing, which cost less than the more traditional publishers, and more are likely to emerge in the next few years. Many of the University presses have options for Open Access monograph publishing, as do commercial publishers, though the costs tend to be higher. In all cases publishers should be able to provide costs. As different models emerge, we expect monograph Open Access charges to come down over the course of time.
A selection of the books and book chapters funded by the Open Access fund at University of Reading.
The baptized muse : early Christian poetry as cultural authority by 
Forecasting and assessing risk of individual electricity peaks by 
Realist cinema as world cinema : non-cinema, intermedial passages, total cinema by 
The archaeology of Iran : from the Palaeolithic to the Achaemenid Empire by 
