Open access monographs: from policy to reality (2 October 2019)

This one-day symposium took place at St Catharine’s College at the University of Cambridge on 2 October 2019 and explored the policies, economics and future directions of open access monograph publishing. Attendees had the opportunity to discuss innovations in the sector, share their enthusiasms and concerns about current developments, and learn more about the opportunities for and realities of publishing an open access book.  Keynote speakers included Professor Martin Eve (Birkbeck, University of London) and Professor Margot Finn (President of the Royal Historical Society) and the panel discussions were comprised by representatives from Research England, The Wellcome Trust, academic experts on the subject as well as various publishing houses. The panel discussions aimed to create a forum for researchers to express the challenges and benefits they foresee if open access monographs becomes a requirement.

Full details of the speakers and panellists can be found in the event programme flyer.

The symposium was supported by the Arcadia Fund, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin.

• Open access monographs: from policy to reality (2 October 2019) - Symposium programme
• Welcome - Dr Jessica Gardner
• The Economics and Political-Economics of Open-Access Monograph Publishing - Prof. Martin Paul Eve
• Open research publishing in the humanities - Dr Nicola Kozicharow
• Open Access Monographs: From Policy to Reality - Perspectives from the Royal Historical Society - Prof. Margot Finn
• Policy and practice: Moving towards Plan S and REF - panel discussion featuring Dr Steven Hill (chair), Prof. Martin Paul Eve, Prof. Margot Finn, Hannah Hope and Prof. Roger Kain
• Perspectives from Cambridge University Press - Ben Denne, Matt Day, Helen Barton and Chris Harrison
• Definitions of Open? - Matt Day
• Open Access monograph publishing: Benefits and Challenges - Helen Barton
• Sharing Knowledge is Cool: OA experiments in context - Chris Harrison
• Innovations in open monograph publishing - panel discussion featuring Patricia Killiard (chair), Janneke Adema, Ben Denne, Dr Rupert Gatti, Rosalind Pyne and Lara Speicher
• Radical Open Access - Janneke Adema
• Reflections of the day - Dr Ruper Gatti, Dr Steven Hill, Prof. Roger Kain and Dr Helen Snaith