Open Library of Humanities

Open Library of Humanities
source
Name	Open Library of Humanities
Founded	2015
Founder	Martin Paul Eve; Caroline Edwards
Country	United Kingdom
Headquarters	London
Focus	Open access humanities publishing

Open Library of Humanities

The Open Library of Humanities is a scholarly publishing platform and charitable organisation supporting open access monographs and journals, founded to transform academic publishing in the humanities. It operates within a landscape populated by institutions such as the British Library, the Library of Congress, the Wellcome Trust, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and international consortia like Jisc, collaborating with universities including University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, Harvard University, Yale University, and University of California, Berkeley. Its activities intersect with initiatives and debates involving stakeholders such as the Directory of Open Access Journals, the Public Library of Science, the HathiTrust Digital Library, the Modern Language Association, and publishers such as Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, and Springer Nature.

History

The organisation was established in the mid-2010s by academics and librarians responding to cost barriers highlighted in discussions involving figures and entities like Tim Berners-Lee, the SPARC movement, the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition, and policy developments such as the Finch Report. Early campaigns and pilot projects aligned with debates around transformative agreements negotiated by Jisc and negotiated deals involving Elsevier and Wiley-Blackwell. Key moments in its formation relate to conferences and gatherings where representatives from King's College London, University College London, Princeton University, Columbia University, and the European Commission explored open infrastructure alternatives. The initiative gained traction through collaborations with library networks including OCLC, partnerships with research funders like the Arts and Humanities Research Council, and engagement with advocacy from groups such as ScholComm and the Open Access Button campaign.

Mission and Funding Model

The organisation's mission emphasizes equitable access to humanities scholarship, aligning its objectives with values promoted by institutions such as the British Academy, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the European Research Council, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Its funding model departs from article processing charges common in STEM publishing as practised by entities like PLOS and instead pursues library-supported subsidy models similar to consortial approaches promoted by COPIM and infrastructures referenced by Research Libraries UK. Partner libraries from University of Edinburgh, University of Toronto, McGill University, University of Sydney, and National University of Singapore contribute through institutional memberships, mirrored by grants from charitable foundations and support from repository services such as Figshare and Portico.

Publishing Program and Journals

Its publishing program includes peer-reviewed journals and monograph series, developed with editorial boards often comprising scholars affiliated with King's College London, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, University of Chicago, and Princeton University. The platform hosts titles covering topics that intersect with the work of scholars connected to projects at British Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, Tate Modern, Smithsonian Institution, and museum-led research centres. Editorial partnerships have engaged editors and contributors who have also published with Routledge, Bloomsbury, MIT Press, Duke University Press, and University of California Press. Journals adhere to peer review standards comparable to those overseen by bodies like the Committee on Publication Ethics, and the platform supports scholarship showcased at venues including the Biennale di Venezia, the Salzburg Festival, and conferences such as the Modern Language Association Annual Convention.

Open Access Policies and Licensing

The organisation implements open access policies that foreground permissive licensing and long-term preservation, interacting with policy frameworks promoted by the European Commission Horizon 2020, funders such as the Wellcome Trust, and mandates exemplified by the Plan S initiative. It utilises Creative Commons licences familiar from projects at the Wikimedia Foundation, seeks alignment with standards from the Open Archives Initiative, and participates in discussions with infrastructure providers like CrossRef, SHERPA/RoMEO, and the Directory of Open Access Books. Preservation strategies reference collaborations with digital repositories such as LOCKSS, CLOCKSS, and national services like the British Library digital preservation programs.

Governance and Partnerships

Governance combines academic leadership, library consortia representation, and advisory input from cultural institutions, with board members and advisors drawn from universities including University of Manchester, University of Glasgow, University of Melbourne, Brown University, and Duke University. Partnerships span library organisations such as Research Libraries UK, funders like the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, infrastructure initiatives including OpenCitations and CrossRef, and international bodies such as the European University Association and the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. Collaborative projects have involved publishers and platforms including Open Book Publishers, Knowledge Unlatched, Janeway Systems, and digital humanities centres at King's College London and University College London.

Impact and Reception

Scholarly reception references citations and endorsements from academics associated with University of Chicago, Princeton University, Columbia University, Stanford University, and commentators in outlets like Times Higher Education, The Guardian, and specialist journals that discuss open scholarship such as Learned Publishing. Impact assessments compare its model with initiatives by Public Knowledge Project, PLOS, and eLife, and note influence on library budgeting and acquisition practices at institutions such as University of Michigan, Cornell University, University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins University, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Critiques and debates have involved stakeholders engaged with licensing policy at the European Commission, funding strategies similar to those by the Wellcome Trust, and sustainability discussions within networks like SPARC Europe.

Category:Open access publishing