Open Access for Long-form Publications

Like open access for journal articles, authors can make their long-form publications open access via Green or Gold routes. Currently only researchers funded by UKRI and/or Wellcome Trust are required to make relevant long-form publications (e.g. chapters and books) open access. There is no requirement for long-form publications to be made open access for REF 2029, though REF have signalled that this will be included in future REF exercises.

We encourage all Strathclyde authors, funded or not, to deposit the accepted manuscript for a book or chapter (when allowed by the publisher) so that it can be made open access via the Green route.

Green Open Access for books and chapters

Authors who publish books and chapters in the traditional way are often still able to make these outputs open access through self-archiving. This is where the author’s accepted manuscript is deposited in the University’s repository via Pure, typically with an embargo period applied. The final published version is only available to readers who have paid for a print or digital copy or if their Library has paid for this content.

Authors can consult publisher policies relating to long-form publications using the Open Book Environment Dashboard or the Jisc Open Policy Finder. If your publisher is not on these lists or if you have further questions on how to make your long-form outputs open access, please contact openaccess@strath.ac.uk.

Gold Open Access for books and chapters

Authors can choose to publish their chapters or books Gold Open Access via the publisher. Digital versions of Gold Open Access books and chapters are freely available to everyone through the publisher’s webpage immediately upon publication. The author(s) maintains copyright of the publication and a Creative Commons licence is applied to the digital version. Print copies of books are still available and sold by the publisher.

Costs for Gold Open Access for chapters and books can range from £5,000 to more than £10,000. Authors with UKRI or Wellcome Trust funding should consult the Funding Open Access webpage for further guidance on how to make funded long-form publications meet their funder Open Access requirements. The Library does not have any funds to pay book or chapter processing charges for Gold Open Access. However, there are some resources listed below for finding open access book publishers that charge low or no book processing charges.