The library is delighted to announce the publication of the first Open Access monograph made possible by funding from the Pilot Institutional Open Access Fund.

‘Academics Writing: The Dynamics of Knowledge Creation’ is written by Professor Karin Tusting from the Department of Linguistics and English Language. The book has been published Open Access using funding from the scheme.

An Open Access Monograph is a book that is made freely available on the internet without access restrictions. They are available to anyone with an internet connection, anywhere in the world, which increases the opportunities for research to be read, discussed, and cited. They have the potential to reach wider and more diverse audiences who might lack the resources to purchase it otherwise. Lancaster University is committed to ensuring that the outputs of our research are made readily available to anyone who would benefit from them.

The Library's Pilot Institutional Open Access fund allows researchers who meet the scheme’s criteria to publish their research Open Access and receive the benefits of Open Access publishing. The scheme is being piloted for the 2023/24 academic year and the Library is welcoming feedback on this from colleagues.

The fund has been developed by the Library Open Research Team. The team works in partnership with Lancaster Researchers by developing initiatives such as the Pilot Open Access Fund and providing services, systems, resources and training to help colleagues achieve their research goals and enable Open Research.

Open Research (used interchangeably with Open Science) champions the idea that scholarly and scientific knowledge (and data) should be shared as freely as possible and as early as possible in the research process across all disciplines, both within and beyond academia.

Click here for more information on Open Access Book publishing.