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Introduction

OA book policy landscape

The articles in this section explore the current attitudes and challenges surrounding open access books within the European Research Area (ERA), based on findings from the PALOMERA project.

Through stakeholder interviews and surveys, key issues emerge, such as the unclear regulatory landscape, the perceived lack of prestige associated with open access publications and concerns over multilingualism.

The articles also outline essential elements for effective open access book policies, highlighting the importance of stakeholder involvement, financial resources and technical infrastructure. Ultimately, addressing these challenges is vital for enhancing the visibility and impact of open access books in the scholarly communications landscape.

OA book policy landscape - articles

  • Attitudes towards open access books in the European Research Area

    This article is based on interviews with stakeholders conducted for the PALOMERA project. Interviewees highlighted three aspects of open access scholarly book publishing within Humanities and Social Sciences. First, unclear regulations create legal and technological challenges for actors despite their commitment to open access publishing. Second, the focus of open access on English can threaten multilingualism and bibliodiversity. Third, open access books struggle with a perceived lack of prestige compared to printed formats, impacting author incentives and trust in open access systems.

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  • Key elements of an open access books policy

    In 2023, PALOMERA devised a list of policymaking elements for academic books to identify gaps and good policy practices among institutional, regional, national and international open access-related policies. These elements also serve as a framework to help policymakers more precisely pinpoint their expectations, which has the potential to ensure better policy compliance.

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  • Needs, obstacles and challenges of policymaking for open access books

    As part of the data collection for the PALOMERA project, a survey was designed and distributed in 2023 on the needs, obstacles and challenges of policymaking for open access books. This article summarises the major findings of the survey analysis.

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