JSTOR, part of the nonprofit ITHAKA, today announced a major milestone for open scholarship: the first 100 books published through Path to Open are now openly available to readers around the world. Originally released in 2023 with early access for Path to Open participating libraries, these titles have officially “flipped” to open access, marking the first cohort to complete the program’s three-year pathway to openness.
Path to Open was launched to address a persistent challenge in scholarly publishing—how to expand global access to peer-reviewed academic books while ensuring long-term sustainability for university presses. Through a cost-sharing model supported by libraries, publishers receive guaranteed funding from JSTOR for new monographs, libraries gain early access to frontlist scholarship, and titles ultimately become free to read for anyone, anywhere increasing the impact of authors’ scholarship. This milestone marks the beginning of the realization of that founding vision.
“Path to Open was built to balance sustainability for publishers, opportunity for authors, and affordability for libraries,” said Kevin Guthrie, President of ITHAKA and Manager Director for JSTOR. “Seeing the first 100 titles become openly available shows that a community-driven model can deliver on all three at scale while expanding global access to high-quality scholarship”
The newly open titles span a wide range of disciplines across the humanities and social sciences and were published by presses of all sizes, underscoring the program’s commitment to bibliodiversity and broad participation across the scholarly publishing ecosystem.
Their release also highlights the important additional impact open access books have through increased discovery and use. Across JSTOR, open access books currently make up about 10% of available titles, yet they account for 45% of all book usage on the platform. JSTOR anticipates usage of the first 100 Path to Open titles will increase by more than 300% after becoming open access, as they become discoverable to readers at thousands of institutions worldwide and beyond the academy.
The program was conceived by and built in collaboration with university press leaders and the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS), and continues to be guided by a Path to Open Community Advisory Committee of librarians, publishers, and scholars.
“ACLS’s support for Path to Open reflects our mission to strengthen the creation and circulation of humanistic scholarship,” said Sarah McKee, Project Manager, Amplifying Humanistic Scholarship at ACLS. “This milestone shows how collective action can create a more equitable and durable open access ecosystem for scholarly books.”
The books themselves illustrate what this expanded access means for scholars, instructors, and students. The first 100 open titles include research on public health, religion, education, communications, literature, film studies, and global history, with many addressing topics, regions, and communities that have limited existing scholarly coverage. All titles were published by university presses and underwent rigorous peer review and editorial development.
Several of these books have already been recognized for their scholarly contribution, including award-winning titles that are now freely available for course adoption, citation, and research use worldwide. As these works become open to everyone, they will reach new audiences, travel more easily into classrooms, and support scholarship across institutions regardless of budget.
Today, more than 250 libraries and nearly 50 publishers participate in Path to Open, demonstrating its viability as a financially sustainable, ongoing model for open access book publishing.
Later this spring, the Path to Open Community Advisory Committee will share updates on next steps for the initiative, including how community feedback will help inform its future direction. In the meantime, libraries are invited to continue joining the program to help shape—and benefit from—the next phase of this evolving model.
For a deeper look at the origins of Path to Open, the newly open titles, and what this milestone means for participating publishers and libraries, read the article “Celebrating 100 Path to Open books becoming open access” by John Lenahan, Vice President of Published Content at JSTOR.
About Path to Open
Path to Open is a groundbreaking initiative that supports the transition of high-quality scholarly monographs to open access at scale. It offers 300 new copyright year peer-reviewed monographs annually, with the goal to reach 1000+ titles in disciplines across the arts, humanities and social sciences by 2026. Designed to increase access to diverse ideas, support small and medium university presses, invest in authors, and help libraries acquire affordable, high-quality frontlist titles, Path to Open enables sustainable open access publishing, and connects readers to authors from around the world.
About JSTOR
JSTOR is a mission-driven nonprofit dedicated to increasing access to knowledge. We work with libraries, museums, and publishers to preserve and bring to life scholarly materials, helping more people discover these collections and improve their lives through learning. Our research and teaching platform combined with our innovative collections stewardship tools, make information more affordable and accessible to current and future scholars everywhere. JSTOR is a part of ITHAKA.