Bloomsbury Open Collections is a collective-action approach to funding open access books which is currently in its pilot phase. Through this model, we are aiming to make open access publication available to a wider range of authors by spreading the cost across multiple organizations, while providing additional benefits to participating libraries. We are the first commercial publisher to pilot such a model. Our hope is to engage a more diverse set of authors, bringing their work to a wider global audience.

What is Bloomsbury Open Collections?

Bloomsbury Open Collections is a collective-action OA model – spreading the costs of publication in order to make a collection of titles open access
We aim to make 20 frontlist titles in African Studies and International Development open access immediately upon publication. The titles are due to publish between March 2024 and February 2025, and include titles from Bloomsbury’s renowned Zed Books imprint

Why Should a Library Participate?

• Contribute to a progressive OA funding model that aims to make 20 research titles available OA
• Receive 1 year’s access to 194 backlist African Studies and International Development titles as a private benefit
• Be publicly acknowledged on our website
• If we do not raise enough funds to publish the titles OA, receive permanent access to all 20 frontlist titles
• If we raise 50% of our target funding, receive permanent access to the 10 frontlist titles that are not made OA

How Does It Work?

Click on the image below to view it in a larger format.
 

Bloomsbury Open Collections infographic

• Read a PDF text version of the above infographic
• Participating Libraries
• The list of libraries that have so far agreed to participate can be found here.

To Participate

For more information for librarians and to discuss participating, please contact:

In the UK, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia: OnlineSalesUK@bloomsbury.com
In the Americas: OnlineSalesUS@bloomsbury.com
Australia and New Zealand: OnlineSalesANZ@bloomsbury.com

Further Information

Read more about the initiative via our FAQs and information for authors.

We are still offering our standard open access publishing and chapter self-archiving options alongside Bloomsbury Open Collections.

Return to the open access homepage.