New books on key global issues published open access through collaborative funding pilot

Twenty-six new books are being published open access (OA) at the end of the first year of Taylor & Francis’ collaborative funding pilot, Pledge to Open. Each OA title tackles a key global challenge, including climate change, mental health, women’s rights, populism, and racism.

Developed to provide a new equitable OA option, Pledge to Open enables new books to maximize their reach and impact without requiring authors to have funding to cover OA publishing charges.

The initiative was launched in July 2023, inviting institutions to support one or more of seven interdisciplinary themed collections. Taylor & Francis has announced that sufficient pledges have now been secured to enable 26 books to be published OA. These include new and forthcoming titles on ‘Innovation Pathways to Sustainability’, ‘State-Sponsored Disinformation Around the Globe’, and ‘Creating Empowering Environments for People with Dementia’. A full title list is available in the Pledge to Open section of the Taylor & Francis website.

Twenty-four institutions in North America, Australasia, and Europe pledged to at least one of the themed collections, with a majority supporting all seven. The list of Pledge to Open supporters includes both large universities as well as smaller research institutions.

Nicola Parkin, Director of Books Editorial Services at Taylor & Francis, said: “We are very grateful to all the institutions who have made it possible to open up these books on crucial issues for our world, which will now be available for everyone to read online, download and share. We were especially encouraged by the number of smaller universities supporting this exciting diamond open access initiative.”

Taylor & Francis has confirmed that a second year of Pledge to Open will launch in September, with a refreshed model reflecting insights from the first year.

Emily Farrell, Global Commercial Director for Open Research at Taylor & Francis, explained: “In its first 12 months, Pledge to Open has already become a significant addition to Taylor & Francis’ range of open research options. We’ve also received a wealth of helpful feedback on the pilot, from supporters as well as organizations that couldn’t take part this time. With this guidance from our partners we will further develop the model so that more institutions are able to pledge in the year ahead and many more books on critical topics can be published OA.”

Organizations interested in receiving more details about Pledge to Open should contact: pledgetoopen@tandf.co.uk