Making OA monographs happen: Library-Press collaboration at the University of Ottawa, Canada

Abstract

At the University of Ottawa, Canada, the UO Press and the UO Library have developed a strategic partnership to publish and disseminate selected new monographs as gold open access (OA). Starting in 2013, the Library agreed to fund three books at C$10,000 per book (a total of C$30,000 per year) in order to remove barriers to accessing scholarship and to align with scholarly communication goals of the University. In 2015 this agreement was renewed for another three years and the funding was increased to cover four books (a total of C$40,000 per year). Ten titles have so far been published under this model.The data reveals that there have been 12,629 downloads as well as 16,584 page views of these titles,as of September 2015. There have been over 4,700 copies (print and EPUB) sold in spite of the free availability of the PDF version. This program has been very successful in terms of increasing the visibility and impact of the Press’s publications; in providing unrestricted access to new scholarly research; and also in providing a significant source of revenue for the Press. The goals, process and outcomes are described in the context of the UO Press and the UO Library.