University Libraries Signs Open Access ‘Read and Publish’ Agreements with Oxford, Cambridge University Presses
University Libraries negotiated last fall “read and publish” agreements with both Oxford and Cambridge University Presses that will increase journal publishing and reading access to both presses for OU authors across all OU campuses and OU community members.
OU Libraries is only the second university library in the U.S. to sign a read and publish agreement with Oxford University Press.
With a read and publish agreement, corresponding authors pay nothing to be published open access, peer review processes remain in place, and the work will not be placed behind a publication paywall.
Read and publish contracts are part of the trend in academic publishing toward increased open access, a shift from the fee-based model that limits access to scholarly works to those with subscriptions or who pay out of pocket for individual articles or journals.
Open access scholarly articles still undergo rigorous peer review before publication, said University Libraries Associate Dean for Scholarly Communications Karen Rupp-Serrano, but now, anyone in the world with internet access can read what OU authors publish in these journals.
It also raises the research profile of the University of Oklahoma.
“By making our work openly accessible,” Rupp-Serrano said, “any scholar with interest in our authors’ works can read it. And if they can read it, they can cite it, which helps demonstrate the importance of the author’s work. Open access grows scholarly impact, and with the real-world implications for the work of many fields of scholarship, access to the ideas in scholarly journals can benefit policymakers and spur innovations outside academia. We are excited to bring these possibilities to the OU community and the world.”
The Libraries signed three-year deals with each press. The contract with Cambridge lasts through 2023, and the contract with Oxford lasts through 2024.
University Libraries also offers alternative textbook grants to assist OU-Norman instructors’ adoption, modification or creation of open course materials as part of its open access initiatives. Learn more about the alternative textbook grants here.
Learn more about open access initiatives at the University Libraries here.
By MaryAnn Martin
Article Published: Wednesday, January 26, 2022