Post #1138891

It is great to see these principles on open monograph acquisition from RLUK. My only criticism is of "there should be evidence that the initiative is financially viable (or established for at least two years)". So how are new models supposed to start? https://www.rluk.ac.uk/shared-principles-open-access-monograph-models/ It seems everything must have at least a two-year grant from a funder. But it's still tricky. I had to sell the benefits of the @openlibhums model to libraries BEFORE it was up and running and secure investment so that we could start publishing. Our grant from Mellon covered my time but not any publishing activities. So this RLUK policy could well have stopped us being able to launch. Many new publishing initiatives are in this chicken and egg situation: "Are you financially viable?" "We are not, right now, but we will be, if you all fund us." So the viability is conditional on the payment that can only be given to "financially viable" orgs in the first place.