There are many models for how publishers can make scholarly publications available open access [OA]. Some require authors to pay to create an “OA version” through article or book processing charges [APCs or BPCs]. Some models, like Subscribe to Open [S2O], wrap the costs of open access into the subscription cost. Some models separate the costs of publication from the costs of making content available OA in an attempt to allow libraries the ability to gain access to content while also participating in a fundraising campaign to make the content open access. What is too common across these models is the lack of transparency in how the costs are calculated and what the “purchase” price is based on. Libraries and scholars are frequently left to wonder what the true costs are, and who benefits from their financial contributions. 

Developed in collaboration between librarians and university presses, Big Ten Open Books is committed to transparency. Big Ten Open Books creates thematic collections of scholarly monographs previously published by Big Ten-affiliated university presses. The Big Ten Academic Alliance is the nation’s preeminent model for effective collaboration among research universities.  

In Big Ten Open Books, all costs needed to create a single collection of 100 open access ebooks are fully outlined and publicly shared. This transparency is the foundation of the program; publishers and librarians collaborated to develop the model based on the production work required and sustainable price thresholds. The overall cost to create an open access version of a book in a Big Ten Open Books collection is centered on shared values and financial sustainability for both parties. The result is the program surfaces and fully covers all associated costs including developing title lists, managing copyrights, locating source files, ensuring authors are kept fully informed of progress, converting files to fully accessible EPUBs and PDFs, updating metadata records, hosting the content, managing the financing model and project details, and working with discovery providers to ensure robust adoption of the materials.

The Big Ten Academic Alliance, the sponsor of this program, began with a fully funded pilot project that produced the Gender and Sexuality Studies collection. Building on this, the Alliance has moved to a new financial model for the next four collections that seeks support from both the Alliance members, and the broader library community. The belief in the power of open access to transform scholarly communications is at the heart of this model. Each Alliance member has contributed by sponsoring the creation of the open access versions of works written by their faculty members. This amounts to over 100 titles transformed into open access versions. To fully realize these collections, it is now up to the broader community of academic institutions to support the opening of works written by their affiliated faculty. 

It costs $3,800 per title to create an open access edition. The costs break out as follows:

• $2,000 is paid to the participating Press
• $500 is paid to convert the print book to fully accessible EPub3 and PDF files
• $250 covers the cost to host, in perpetuity, an ebook on the Fulcrum platform
• $200 is for discovery services including the external preparation of MARC records and sharing files with 3rd party OA content hosts (e.g., JSTOR, Project Muse)
• $350 for title list development, coordination of presses, and overall project management of the program. 
• $300 for marketing, outreach to libraries, and administration of the sales of the sponsorship program
• $100 supports outreach to affiliated scholarly communities 
• $100 per book funds the opening of approximately 3 unsponsored titles per collection

Leadership of the program is supported in-kind by both the University of Michigan Libraries’ Publishing Services and the Big Ten Academic Alliance.   

The four forthcoming collections, each containing 100 titles, were written by faculty from over 100 institutions across the country. The collection themes are Indigenous North Americans,  Health Disparities and Disabilities, African-, Asian- and Hispanic American Experiences, and Human Environmental Impact. To learn more about the financial model and the sponsorship program please visit BigTenOpenBooks.org/librarians.

Author: Kate McCready, kate.mccready@btaa.org