PALOMERA provides new ground-breaking resources in OA book policy
The PALOMERA project is wrapping up after two years of in-depth work on Open Access books policy in Europe. SPARC Europe is proud to have participated in this project.
PALOMERA has striven to speed up the transition to Open Access for books by deepening our knowledge of why so few funders’ Open Access policies include books and by providing actionable recommendations to promote policy alignment. PALOMERA has identified that the alignment of policies, both across stakeholder groups and between countries in the European Research Area, is crucial for Open Access book publishing.
SPARC Europe conducted extensive research into OA book policy in Europe and helped craft evidence-based PALOMERA’s policy recommendations. We also took significant action to engage with a range of OA book stakeholders throughout the project: from RPOs to librarians to learned societies or researchers.
Results of the PALOMERA project include:
- Recommendations for Open Access Books Policy. These recommendations address eight stakeholders. SPARC Europe contributed to writing the recommendations for libraries, national policymakers and research funding organisations.
Read the full recommendations here.
Read the overview of the recommendations here. - Knowledge Base. The recommendations grew from an analysis of the 600+ European Open Access policy documents that are collected in the PALOMERA Knowledge Base.
- OAPEN OA Books Toolkit. This resource was updated in November. It now includes new articles on funding for OA books that SPARC Europe co-wrote.
- Funder Forum. This is an inclusive and open space where research funders convene to discuss their policy for Open Access books, both in Europe and beyond. Where possible, this space facilitates alignment of policy and practices internationally.
SPARC Europe is deeply invested in improving OA to books – as one of the founders of the Open Access Books Network, and working on OA book policymaking between 2023-2024 – so we look forward to further developing the work of PALOMERA in the years to come.