‘Platinum’ open access book series launched

A new open access book series has been launched, with a SoSS academic as Editorial Chair, which publishes monographs at no cost to authors or their institutions.

Open-access monographs are a big headache for the arts and humanities: most publishers currently charge authors enormous sums, and new publishing models urgently need to be explored. Professor Helen Beebee (Philosophy) is the Editorial Chair of an exciting new open access initiative, BSPS Open.

BSPS Open – a collaboration between the British Society for the Philosophy of Science and University of Calgary Press – is an international monograph series that will publish ten books over five years. It is. It has adopted a ground-breaking “Open Access Platinum” model that sets a new standard for equality and access.

BSPS Open books will be free to download and distribute online in a high-quality format, produced in-house by the publishers. But what makes the initiative unique is that the service will also be absolutely free to authors and their institutions, saving many thousands of pounds compared to other publishers’ open-access initiatives. The scheme will therefore allow authors to reach the widest possible audience whatever their – or their institution’s – financial circumstances.