As an independent, employee-owned press, Boydell & Brewer is fully committed to best serving the academic community and scholarly communication. 

As part of that drive, we are expanding our Open Access publishing with a growing number of titles available to access free of charge. All our Open Access titles go through a rigorous editorial and peer review process and are fully accessible through all the main world-wide OA repositories and channels. These books span a wide range of subjects published by our diverse imprints and our partner press, the University of Rochester Press. As a leading publisher of African Studies, we are especially proud of our African Studies Open Access content which, through James Currey and URP, makes up a significant part of our Open Access publishing.  

Boydell & Brewer Open Access

Boydell & Brewer Open Access is a dedicated site that showcases our complete OA publishing programme, including books and individual chapters. The site represents our aim to improve visibility and discoverability of, and access to, the research output of the diverse academic communities we serve with our wide-ranging publishing programme. 

Publishing Open Access Books with Boydell & Brewer 

Publishing OA with an established publisher such as Boydell offers the best of both worlds: on the one hand you get the rigorous editorial oversight and strong marketing team of a publishing house supporting your work; on the other, the work is freely available to readers as soon as it is published, searchable on the internet, and readable at a few clicks of a button. – Jane Whittle, co-editor Labour Laws in Preindustrial Europe

We are proud to offer prospective and existing authors very competitive and flexible Open Access publishing options. Our Open Access Book programme is designed to meet all your and/or your funders’ OA publishing needs and deliver value by ensuring: 

  1. Your research is fully and globally accessible in all the main library and academic platforms and distribution channels, and on our own OA Portal. 
  1. Your OA title is actively marketed and promoted alongside non-OA books. 
  1. Your book receives the same peer review and editorial guidance you would expect for a non-OA book. 
  1. Global availability of a print edition at an accessible price alongside the Open Access digital edition. 
  1. Full flexibility in delivering Open Access content options from full book to individual chapters. 

Our Open Access Publishing Options

Full Book OA Publishing

We welcome proposals for single and co-authored books and edited collections in the following imprints: Boydell Press; D.S. Brewer; Camden House; James Currey; and Tamesis, as well as for our partner press: University of Rochester Press. 

Fees

Our Book Processing Charge (BPC) is £8,500/$11,000 (excluding VAT or other applicable sales taxes). This covers a manuscript up to 120,000 words. We charge an additional £100/$135 (excluding VAT and sales taxes) for every additional 2,000 words over this limit. The BPC covers up to a combined total of 30 black and white images, figures, tables and illustrations. We aim to accommodate a higher number if the work requires it. Please consult with your editor if this is the case. 

Open Access License

We make Open Access titles available under a Creative Commons license. We recommend a CC BY-NC-ND license, which means your work can be copied and shared (with suitable attribution) but cannot be altered or used for commercial reasons. We can accommodate other Creative Commons licences. Please discuss with your editor if you require an alternative one. 

Peer Review and Editorial Guidance

Open Access titles receive the same rigorous peer review process that all our academic titles go through. A proposed Open Access title must pass our peer review and editorial guidance process to be published. 

Distribution and Marketing
  • We make a Digital Rights Management (DRM) free PDF available via Boydell & Brewer Open Access, EBSCO, ProQuest, JSTOR, DOAB, OAPEN, and Project MUSE (for URP titles) and other repositories as required by your funding body. 
  • We market Open Access titles alongside our non-OA content. Our aim is to deliver value for money to the funders and to drive usage and promote discoverability. 
  • When an OA title is published, we make a print edition available within three months. 
  • We are clear in our bibliographical data and marketing material that a free digital copy is available.
Third Party Material

Any third-party material published within your Open Access title should also carry the same Creative Commons licence. If it does not, we may still be able to include it provided that the copyright owner agrees to inclusion and is aware of the OA status of the work. We cannot include any third-party material where a time limited permission to reproduce is applied. 

Chapter OA Publishing

We are pleased to offer the option to publish an individual chapter or chapters as Open Access content. Much of our full book OA publishing policy applies, though there are key differences in the fee and how we handle the distribution of single chapters versus full length books. 

Fees

Our standard Chapter Processing Fee (CPC) is £1,250/$1,650 (excluding VAT or other applicable sales taxes). For simplicity, we apply one rate of fee regardless of number of chapters in title and/or length and this accommodates most cases. However, there may be cases in which this fee is adjusted depending on the length of the book that contains it, and/or the length of the chapter itself. If so, you and your funder will be made aware of any adjustments needed. 

Distribution and Marketing
  • Chapters will be made available in our OA Portal along with details of the full book from which they come. They will also be available in those library platforms and distribution channels that can accommodate single chapters. 
  • We cannot make a print version of individual chapters available to purchase. 

Still have questions?

Whom should I contact to discuss an Open Access proposal? 

Please contact your existing editorial contact or write to us at [email protected]

Will my OA book be treated differently than non-OA Boydell & Brewer titles? 

The editorial and production processes will be the same. The proposal still needs to pass our rigorous peer review. Your book will go through the same copyediting, typesetting, and cover design stages as all our other titles. Our marketing philosophy is to ensure discoverability and drive usage, which means our OA titles are always marketed alongside our commercially available books. This will include catalogue entries, conference displays and a presence in our digital promotions. The only real difference is the distribution of the file to all the key global OA depositories and our Boydell & Brewer Open Access website. 

Can I add third-party content to my Open Access book? 

It is vital that all permissions are cleared by the author/editor. Copyright holders need to be told of your intention to publish your work as Open Access. Note that some commercially minded rights holders might be more reluctant to grant permission when the publication is Open Access. Ideally the material should be subject to the same Creative Commons licence, but we can accommodate material not subject to a CC licence if permission to reproduce it is in line with the same CC licence. 

When is the Book Processing
Charge payable? 

Payment is due on submission of the final accepted manuscript. 

Will I have to pay tax on
the BPC or CPC? 

Yes, you are likely to have to pay VAT or a sales tax in addition to the stated fees. More details will be available on application. 

Can my already contracted or published book be made Open Access? 

We will consider requests. A fee would be payable, and the appropriate permissions would have to be cleared by the author. Please contact your editor for a quote. 

Will the authors/editors receive gratis copies of Open Access titles? 

The BPC covers one paperback gratis copy. We also offer a generous discount on additional copies. 

Why sell my Open Access book as a paperback and a retail eBook? 

We know that many readers still prefer print, and making a print version available at an accessible price increases the circulation of the title further. We don’t sell e-versions of Open Access titles since an e-version is freely available. 

Will the Open Access edition be made available immediately on publication? 

The payment of the Book Processing Charge (or Chapter Processing Charge) means that the Open Access edition of the book (or chapter) is available from the first publication date.  

Can I use colour images in my
Open Access book? 

We strongly discourage the use of colour images in OA titles, but they can be accommodated. If colour is essential to conveying the full meaning of an image (and therefore essential in making an academic point) we can include it. However, we would also need to include it in the paperback edition (to use a black and white version would be unacceptable and undermine the argument) which might mean a higher list price, due to higher print costs.