Open access for books

LSE encourages authors to deposit their monographs and book chapters in LSE Research Online (LSERO). Check with your publisher if they will permit you to deposit, or “self-archive”, the accepted version of your manuscript in LSERO, whether you can apply a Creative Commons licence to the manuscript and if the publisher requires an embargo.  

For help understanding publisher policies and depositing your manuscript, contact the Open Access team. 

Authors are asked to pay a Book Processing Charge (BPC) or a Chapter Processing Charge (CPC) to publish their book or chapter Gold open access under a creative commons licence. BPCs can range from £3,000 to £15,000; CPCs are usually upwards of £1,000. 

We do not currently have any funds available to pay BPCs or CPCs. 

Some research funders allow you to build open access charges for monographs into your grant application as eligible, directly incurred costs. Check individual funder’s information below to see if they will permit you to do this. 

When budgeting for open access monographs/chapters in your grant application, consider the following: 

• Which publishers are you considering for your proposal? 
• Do they offer a no-cost, Green or “self-archiving” route for open access? 
• What are their costs for Gold open access? 

Check your publisher’s open access policies carefully and make sure their titles are listed in the Directory of Open Access Books. 

Contact the Publishing Advice Service for guidance on author rights, signing a publishing agreement and choosing a book publisher.

LSE Press is a publisher of high quality, open access research in the social sciences.

Get in touch to discuss your book idea or with a full proposal. The Press team can help with questions about costs and funding for LSE Press publications.

New policy requirements for monographs, chapters and edited collections that acknowledge UKRI funding, published on or after 1 January 2024:  

• Either the version of record or the accepted manuscript must be made open access within 12 months of first publication.   
• A Creative Commons or Open Government Licence must be applied (CC BY 4.0 is preferred but other CC licences will be accepted).   
• The open access version should include, where possible, any images, illustrations, tables and other supporting content (UKRI have produced guidance for authors on managing copyright, creative commons licences and open access publishing) 
• Exemptions are available for books that are under contract before 1 Jan 2024 and in a small number of other circumstances.  
• Funding must be properly acknowledged 

What do I need to do? 

• Notify your preferred publisher of the UKRI open access requirements and check that they offer a compliant route to open access. First, check if they would allow you to make the publication open access via the Green route (deposit of the accepted manuscript in LSE Research Online), if not, check if there is a compliant Gold route. 
• Fill in the form to alert the Open Access team to your publication.   

Routes to compliance

Green open access 

• If copyright permits, you may be able to comply with the policy at no cost, by depositing an accepted version of the manuscript in LSE Research Online. 
• Where an author’s accepted manuscript is deposited, it should be clear that this is not the final published version. 

Gold open access 

• UKRI is making a central fund available to support immediate open access of in-scope publications 
• Applications to the fund will be a 2 stage process:
  1. Stage 1: notifying UKRI of the forthcoming publication and receiving assurance about eligibility for funding (this can be done before the contract is signed).  
  2. Stage 2: supplying evidence of open access publication to UKRI and receiving funds.

• Applications will be submitted by the Library’s Open Access team on behalf of the researcher, the OA team will manage the subsequent invoice payment and receipt of funds back from UKRI. 
• UKRI have set maximum funding contributions at the following levels (inclusive of VAT): 
  • £10,000 for book processing charges 
  • £1,000 for chapter processing charges 

UKRI open access policy and FAQ    

UKRI guide on managing third-party copyright in your publications 

• Monographs, chapters and edited collections wholly or partly funded by Horizon Europe, must be made available open access immediately and no later than the date of publication. Either the version of record or accepted manuscript must be open access.  
• CC BY licence is preferred but other Creative Commons licences are accepted.  
• Publication fees must be costed into your grant application. 

What do I need to do?

• Budget open access publishing fees into your grant application (they can be included as “direct eligible costs” providing they are incurred during the lifespan of the project). Check that your chosen publisher offers a compliant route to open access, either by depositing the accepted manuscript in LSE Research Online or, if not, check if there is a compliant Gold route. 
• Provide an acknowledgement of funding in the following format: "This project has received funding from the [European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation programme] under grant number No. [Number]." 
• Add the publication into your final report to the European Commission  
• Contact the Open Access team if you have any questions about complying with your EU funder. 

European Research Council Open Science page

Horizon Europe General Model Grant Agreement [PDF]

• Publish scholarly monographs and book chapters open access under a creative commons licence within 6 months of publication 
• Must be made freely available through NCBI Bookshelf PubMed Central (PMC) and Europe PMC as soon as possible and no later than within 6 months of the official final publication date – authors can use this form to deposit their publications. 
• CC BY is the preferred licence, however more restrictive licences are acceptable.

What do I need to do? 

• Check whether your chosen publisher offers a compliant route to open access. First, check if they would allow you to make the publication open access via the Green route (deposit of the accepted manuscript in LSE Research Online), if not, check there is a compliant Gold route. 
• If publishing Gold open access, email the following details to openaccess@wellcome.org: 
  • your current employing organisation 
  • title of the monograph or book chapter 
  • Wellcome grant reference number 
  • publisher name 
  • proposed date of publication 
  • cost of the open access fee. 

Wellcome Open Access Policy

Wellcome Open Access Compliance Guide

Wellcome Open Access Funding Guide

Monographs, chapters and edited collections are currently out of scope of the NIHR open access policy.