Making your monograph or book chapter open access

Before publishing a monograph or book chapter, make sure that you have permission to make it open access in UCL Discovery. Funding is available for Gold open access in certain circumstances.

Green open access

UCL encourages authors of monographs and book chapters to make their work open access in UCL Discovery (Green open access).

Before signing a contract for a monograph or agreeing to write a chapter in an edited book, check whether the publisher's standard terms and conditions allow you to deposit all or part of your work in an institutional open access repository. If your publisher does not allow open access as standard, ask them to amend the contract to include it.

Below are some publishers who allow authors to make book outputs open access. The version permitted is often the final accepted manuscript, and the publisher may require an embargo period. If your publisher is not listed, search their website for 'open access', 'deposit', 'self-archive' or 'Green', or ask them about open access permissions.

Contact UCL's Open Access Team for help interpreting publishers' policies, and UCL Library Services' Copyright Team for advice on book contracts. 

• Bloomsbury
• Brill (multi-authored books and encyclopedias)
• Cambridge University Press
• Emerald
• Hart
• Oxford University Press
• Routledge/Taylor & Francis
• Sage
• Springer

How do I make my book open access in UCL Discovery?

You need to record your monograph or book chapter in UCL's Research Publications Service (RPS), and upload your file to the RPS record. Follow our quick guide. 

When you add your record to RPS, you will be asked to indicate whether you have permission for open access, the publisher's embargo period and the version that can be made open access. 

What happens after I upload?

UCL's Open Access Team:

• Reviews your file to confirm that the version is correct.
• Applies any required embargo on making the manuscript open access in UCL's repository, UCL Discovery.
• Contacts you if any additional information about your publisher's permissions is required.

Gold open access

Open access books, and publishers, are listed in the Directory of Open Access Books. Authors normally pay a Book Processing Charge (BPC) to publish. UCL Press is the first fully open access university press. There is no charge for UCL authors to publish. 

Some funders, including the Wellcome Trust, will pay open access charges for monographs. Other funders provide open access funding as part of research grants. See our research funders pages for more information.

In some cases, UCL's UK Research Councils (UKRI) or institutional open access fund can pay open access charges for monographs and chapters by UCL authors. For more information, complete this form. The Open Access Team will reply with a summary of your options and, if your work is eligible for funding, details of payment procedures. If you cannot complete the form, submit your request to the Open Access Team by email.