Open Access Books

The Open Access Books Special Interest Group (SIG) was established within OPERAS to strengthen collaboration and coordination around open access book publishing, a vital but often underrepresented area in scholarly communication, especially in the social sciences and humanities.

Objective of the SIG

Coordinated by OAPEN and supported by the OPERAS Coordination Team, the SIG brings together three complementary working groups—the Open Access Books Network, the OA Business Models group, and the Open Infrastructures group. Its main role is to convene these groups, align their activities, and provide input into the agendas of the new Policy Forum for OA Books (hosted by Science Europe in cooperation with cOAlition S and OAPEN). By facilitating strategic discussions, collecting and sharing feedback from policy debates, and contributing to the wider OPERAS roadmap, the SIG acts as a central hub for advancing sustainable, inclusive, and community-led approaches to OA book publishing. Through this work, it helps ensure that academic books are more firmly embedded in European and global Open Science policies and infrastructures.