Collaboration across campus: open monograph insights from a library and ‘old’ university press partnership

Liverpool University Press and the University of Liverpool Library collaborated to publish two open access monographs to gain insights into each other’s processes and requirements, and improve the guidance provided to researchers and authors. Lessons learned include researchers’ knowledge of publishing and open access, the monograph publishing process and costs involved, licences and third-party content and the marketing and discoverability of open monographs. Researchers, particularly those at the start of their career, may not have much knowledge and experience of publishing and so it is important for publishers to be as transparent as possible about the processes involved, and for libraries to ensure they are providing sufficient guidance. Knowledge about publishers’ processes and costs allows libraries to have a better understanding about what is reasonable to expect and for researchers to better plan costs for funding applications. Transparency from publishers about the types of costs involved, as well as a greater understanding of the financial requirements of libraries and their institutions, will allow publishers to plan their marketing of open monographs more effectively. The project demonstrated that collaboration between libraries and publishers can be extremely valuable and beneficial to both.