UMD Libraries Joins Open-Access Publishing Initiative; $15K Faculty Grants Available

The University of Maryland has joined TOME (Toward an Open Monograph Ecosystem), a national initiative to advance open-access publishing of monographs in the humanities and social sciences. TOME aims to make important long-form scholarship available to readers across the globe, without cost and permission barriers, by creating a system in which academic institutions subsidize the publication of open-access books.

For its initial two-year pilot program, TOME@UMD will sponsor the publication of open-access, digital monographs by UMD faculty members, awarding three grants of up to $15,000 each, with funding from University Libraries, the Office of the Provost and the College of Arts and Humanities. Funded monographs must be published by a participating university press under a Creative Commons license and must be made openly accessible through a digital repository such as the Digital Repository for University of Maryland (DRUM).

“Scholarly monographs are a critical form of knowledge dissemination in the arts, humanities, and social sciences,” said Linda Aldoory, associate dean for research and programming in the College of Arts and Humanities. “Yet, these books are often expensive and not readily available to audiences without institutional access to academic libraries or research libraries. Publishing open-access books is one way to disseminate this research freely to a wider audience.”

TOME@UMD is accepting expressions of interest for a full application process later this year. In evaluating proposals, the TOME@UMD Selection Advisory Committee will consider the potential impact of the work on the author’s field and on communities outside academia as well as the benefits of open-access distribution for the scholarly work. Works from all disciplines will be considered, with preference for those in the arts, humanities and social sciences.

“I’m proud that UMD has joined a growing number of partner institutions committed to promoting broader access to book-length, scholarly research,” said Adriene Lim, dean of libraries. “Our new grant-funding program serves as an investment toward this aim, helps faculty members meet their publication goals and provides an incentive for publishers to work with academic partners on more sustainable, open-access publishing models.”