Path to Open is a community-supported model to publish scholarly ebooks in the humanities and social sciences sustainably and equitably.
As part of nonprofit ITHAKA, JSTOR shares a mission with libraries and presses to improve access to knowledge, and together we can fulfill this mission. We believe that the benefits of sharing knowledge with researchers everywhere, including in low-income nations, far exceed the obstacles. This is why, in line with our mission to expand and enhance access to knowledge and education for people all over the world, we are collaborating with university presses on Path to Open, a new pilot program that supports the academic community’s efforts to increase bibliodiversity in scholarly ebooks and invest in sustainable, open access solutions while reducing financial risk.
- Can institutions use InterLibrary Loan for Path to Open titles?
Yes. While this is currently at the chapter level—as with other ebooks on Books at JSTOR—we are developing the ability to loan all chapters per request.
- Why does Path to Open have a three-year delayed access period?
This program provides an opportunity for tier 1-3 university presses to join together to support open access publishing. This is the first move into open access for many of these publishers. Cost recovery and financial stability is critical for these not-for-profit publishers. The three-year delayed access gives publishers the ability to secure additional funding through print and direct-to-consumer sales to help ensure their future sustainability. We will be evaluating this during the pilot and through the duration of the program to measure the financial viability of this model for the publishers, and test if any adjustments can be made to the delayed open access period.
- Are Path to Open books available for individual sale if a library is not participating in the program?
Not on JSTOR or through other library sales channels for ebooks, but the books are available in print or e-consumer platforms like Kindle.
- Does JSTOR share information on Path to Open books with library book partners?
Catalog feeds will be sent out to partners such as GOBI and ProQuest to identify the titles that are available on JSTOR in Path to Open. Print purchases made through these partners will include a notification of the ebook version being available through JSTOR’s Path to Open program.
- How is Path to Open different from current open access programs from the University of Michigan Press, MIT Press, and De Gruyter? Are these titles available in other open access programs?
The University of Michigan Press and MIT Press are solutions for individual presses. Path to Open supports over 35 presses working together and supporting each other in open access publishing. De Gruyter’s Open Access Transformation Packages and their not-for-profit foundation eBound do not have the scale and level of publisher participation as Path to Open.
- What happens if a library begins subscribing to Path to Open, but then is unable to renew the following year? Will the library continue to access the titles published the year I subscribed?
No. Access is only available during the year that an institution pays the annual subscription fee. If at any time a subscription is not renewed, access will be suspended. Unless an annual subscription fee is paid again in the future, access will not be available for these titles until they are converted to open access.
- Are these titles also available for sale as individual titles on JSTOR, or through JSTOR’s Demand-Driven Acquisition or Evidence-Based Acquisition programs?
No. The ebook version of these books will only be available via a Path to Open subscription. This is to ensure that all publisher titles are supported equally in the program and have an opportunity to be discovered and accessed.
- Will titles in Path to Open be available through our discovery service provider?
Updated feeds will be provided to all discovery services providers we currently partner with and who provide ebooks from Books at JSTOR.
- How timely will MARC records be provided?
Since this is a collection that will not change daily or even weekly, records will be provided as any new titles are added to the program and updated through OCLC once a week.
- Are these titles peer reviewed and subject to the same editorial standards as other titles published by these presses?
Yes. All titles will go through the same rigorous peer review process as with any other scholarly monograph they publish.
- Will libraries have the title lists before print publication so they can block them from coming on print approval plans?
Title lists will be published every spring and fall, months ahead of publication, which matches the way publishers send their information to resellers. Publishers will be sending their print and direct-to-consumer versions to their normal sales channels. We will be publishing lists on the Path to Open site, and email participants lists that identify the titles that are available in Path to Open as soon as each season’s list is finalized.
- Is there any concern that a publisher will remove a title once it is published in Path to Open?
No. Publishers do a careful review of all rights being secured prior to publishing a title in Path to Open.
- Are you concerned about publishing 300 titles in the program each year?
There is not a concern on reaching the 300 titles per year based on the number of publishers in the program and their commitment to provide titles in a range of 5-15 titles each year.
- How and when do ebooks become open access in the Path to Open model?
Ebooks published in 2023 in Path to Open will all convert to open access on January 1st, or the first business day of the month in 2026. Ebooks published in 2026 will not be open access on JSTOR until January 2029. If we decide not to continue to support the program before the end of the pilot, then we will convert all titles in the program in 2027.
- How can I measure usage of my ebooks in Path to Open?
Just like other licensed and open access books on JSTOR, usage for Path to Open titles will be available for participating libraries to download from the JSTOR Admin portal. The reports will include both licensed usage during the embargo period and open access usage after the titles are opened up. Please refer to our support pages for more information on how to access usage statistics for JSTOR books. JSTOR will also be releasing annual updates on the library participation and overall usage of the Path to Open program to evaluate and measure the impact of the program across the academic community.
- How can I learn more about Path to Open?
Please contact JSTOR with any additional questions you may have about Path to Open.
- How can I measure usage of my ebooks in Path to Open?
- How and when do ebooks become open access in the Path to Open model?
- Are you concerned about publishing 300 titles in the program each year?
- Is there any concern that a publisher will remove a title once it is published in Path to Open?
- Will libraries have the title lists before print publication so they can block them from coming on print approval plans?
- Are these titles peer reviewed and subject to the same editorial standards as other titles published by these presses?
- How timely will MARC records be provided?
- Will titles in Path to Open be available through our discovery service provider?
- Are these titles also available for sale as individual titles on JSTOR, or through JSTOR’s Demand-Driven Acquisition or Evidence-Based Acquisition programs?
- What happens if a library begins subscribing to Path to Open, but then is unable to renew the following year? Will the library continue to access the titles published the year I subscribed?
- How is Path to Open different from current open access programs from the University of Michigan Press, MIT Press, and De Gruyter? Are these titles available in other open access programs?
- Does JSTOR share information on Path to Open books with library book partners?
- Are Path to Open books available for individual sale if a library is not participating in the program?
- Why does Path to Open have a three-year delayed access period?
Disclaimer: This document was last updated on December 20, 2023