In a major boost for open access publishing, Taylor & Francis has announced its continued participation in SCOAP3 for Books, a ground-breaking initiative that has significantly expanded the readership and reach of high-energy physics books. As the pilot phase transitions into a long-term program, Taylor & Francis is committed to making new eBook releases available to everyone, driving greater accessibility to scholarly content.
The successful pilot phase of SCOAP3 for Books showcased the transformative potential of open access in increasing the visibility of authors' books. The average annual usage of the 19 Taylor & Francis titles included in the pilot soared by over 3,000% in 2021 and 2022 compared to the three years prior to their conversion to open access. Moreover, open access facilitated access to these titles in regions with limited library budgets, resulting in a five-fold increase in the average number of countries accessing the content.
SCOAP3, hosted at CERN (Sponsoring Consortium for Open Access Publishing in Particle Physics), is a collaborative effort involving more than three thousand libraries, funding agencies, and research centers. It supports researchers in the field of high-energy physics to publish their work as open access.
Building on the success of its open access funding model, SCOAP3 for Books will now prioritize making frontlist titles available as open access, rather than converting existing eBooks. Monographs and textbooks selected by SCOAP3 will be made freely accessible at no cost to their authors. By the end of August 2023, SCOAP3 aims to finalize the selection process and inform publishers of the titles eligible for open access funding.
The partnership between Taylor & Francis and SCOAP3 exemplifies the commitment to advancing open access publishing, making scholarly knowledge widely accessible, and maximizing the impact of research in the field of high-energy physics.
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