How do I make my books and chapters open access?

Open access books and chapters

Monographs, edited collections and chapters can be published open access on a website or platform under a Creative Commons licence or (depending on the publisher’s self-archiving policy) an earlier version of the manuscript can be shared via White Rose Research Online. If you are publishing an open access book, a charge known as a ‘Book Processing Charge’ (BPC) may be issued, which can range from £6000 - £14,000 excluding VAT. There is also an increasing number of publishers who publish open access monographs under a ‘diamond’ model, where a BPC is not charged.

Access  funding to pay open access charges (gold open access)

There are several sources of funding which can be used to cover the open access charges for books and chapters in certain circumstances.

UKRI has an open access requirement for monographs, edited collections and chapters. To support this, authors acknowledging UKRI funding can apply for up to £10,000 per monograph, or £1000 per chapter in open access charges. UKRI hold this fund centrally, with the Library administering applications on the author’s behalf. Please email oaenquiries@sheffield.ac.uk as early as possible in the publishing process (preferably before a contract is signed) to discuss making an application to UKRI.

If you are not acknowledging UKRI or Wellcome Trust funding and are publishing with a fully open access monograph publisher, you can apply to our Institutional Open Access Fund [application form here].

Some funders also allow you to cost open access charges into your research grants.

Please do not order an invoice for open access charges without agreement from the open access team. Invoices that have not been authorised in advance will remain the responsibility of the author for payment.

Publish with a book publisher that does not charge a fee (diamond open access)

Increasingly, publishers are developing business models for publishing open access books where the author does not have to pay an open access charge (diamond open access). You can find diamond open access publishers, and hybrid publishers who make some of their titles open access under a diamond model on our list of open access monograph publishers.

The University of Sheffield is committed to encouraging bibliodiversity in open access monograph publishing models, and a transition to a sustainable and equitable publishing system, and financially supports diamond OA initiatives for monographs.

Publish with White Rose University Press

White Rose University Press is a non-profit, fully open access press established in 2016 and owned by the Universities of Sheffield, Leeds and York. It has so far published thirteen peer-reviewed open access books, which can be downloaded from the press’s website as well as being discoverable through services such as the Directory of Open Access Books, OAPEN, JSTOR and StarPlus. It accepts applications for both monographs and textbooks.

White Rose University Press charges Book Processing Charges starting at £6000 for an 80,000 word monograph. A waiver fund is available to support University of Sheffield researchers with some or all of the open access costs. The fund is limited and applications are considered as they are received. More information is available on the WRUP website.

The Library has held two iterations of the Sheffield Thesis Publishing Prize in collaboration with White Rose University Press, supporting PhD graduates to publish their first monographs open access. You can see the 2022 winners and 2024 winners on our website.

Share a version of your book chapter via White Rose Research Online (green open access)

Deposit the Author Accepted Manuscript version of your book chapter into White Rose Research Online via myPublications in order to make it open access via the green route.

The open access team in the Library will apply the publisher’s self-archiving policy (eg. an embargo period) when you deposit. Not all book publishers have an easily accessible self-archiving policy so we may have to contact the publisher to ask permission to deposit your chapter, and permission may not be granted.

For more information, see our depositing guidance. 
 

Publish an open access textbook

Open textbooks fall under the umbrella of Open Educational Resources - learning, teaching and research materials in any format and medium that reside in the public domain, or are under copyright, that have been released under an open licence, that permit no-cost access, re-use, re-purpose, adaptation and redistribution by others (UNESCO Recommendation on OER, 2019).

Open textbooks can be published by some hybrid or open access presses (eg. Open Book Publishers), either via the payment of a book processing charge or using a diamond funding model. They can also be created and disseminated without a publisher via a digital platform such as Pressbooks. The Open Textbook Library indexes over 1300 open textbooks across a range of disciplines, all licensed to be freely used and adapted.

The Library’s pages on Open Educational Resources outlines the support available for staff interested in using, creating and sharing open material for learning and teaching.
 

Do I have to make my books and chapters open access?

Monographs, edited books and chapters acknowledging funding from UKRI and the Wellcome Trust must comply with these funders' open access requirements. For more information, see REF and research funder open access policies.

Monographs, edited books and chapters are not in scope of REF2029, but may be for the REF after REF2029.

Further information 

Search for open access books using the Directory of Open Access Books.

Find out more about the experiences of University of Sheffield authors who have published an open access monograph in our Open Access Monograph Case Studies.