Three hundred groundbreaking new books are on the path to open access

Path to Open, a pilot program to support the open access publication of new groundbreaking scholarly books that brings diverse perspectives and research to millions of people, will add 300 new books from 44 university presses in 2024. This includes titles from 9 publishers new to Path to Open, with several that expand the initiative’s global coverage: Bristol University Press, Sydney University Press, Melbourne University Publishing, and Leiden University Press.

University press books are marked by the richness, depth, and quality of the research and ideas they publish. The 2024 list reflects timely, insightful topics aligned with high use disciplines on JSTOR—books like Resisting Olympic Evictions by Adam Talbot from Manchester University Press; School, Ideas, and Values in the Age of tl:dr by Zdeněk Ježek from Masaryk University Press; and Climate Justice and Public Health: Realities, Responses, and Reimaginings for a Better Future by Rajini Srikanth and Linda Thompson from University of Massachusetts Press. The diverse list includes works by scholars in the arts, humanities, social sciences, and interdisciplinary fields like public health and sustainability.

Faculty and students at Path to Open participating libraries will gain access to the 2024 books on JSTOR immediately upon publication, adding to the 2023 list of 100 books already available. All Path to Open books will become open access three years after publication.

“By the end of this year, we’ll have helped hundreds of new and experienced faculty authors reach millions of researchers through a business model that ensures long-term open access to important research and ideas,” says Rebecca Seger, VP, Institutional Participation and Strategic Partnerships at ITHAKA. “It’s still early days, but Path to Open shows significant promise and is a tremendous demonstration of how our community of nonprofit presses, libraries, and organizations can come together to build affordable, high-impact solutions.”

Now in year 2 of a multi-year pilot, Path to Open is progressing toward its goal of creating a scalable, sustainable model for open access book publishing. To learn more about the program from members of the Path to Open community and learnings to date, join our free upcoming Library Journal webinar:

Continuing the Journey on a Path to Open:
An Innovative Model for Open Access Monograph Publishing
May 16, 2024
2:00 PM ET
Register now