The Press makes a single book processing charge on acceptance for publication. There is no charge for submission or for peer review.
The Charge
Open-access publication is financed at the point of publication rather than by sale. The charge covers the whole process through to publication and permanent hosting: peer review honoraria, copy-editing, typesetting, indexing, cover design, metadata and identifier registration, accessible file production, hosting, deposit and preservation.
The charge is fixed at USD 5,000 for most manuscripts. The figure for a given book is stated in the contract offer and does not change afterwards. It is invoiced on acceptance of the complete manuscript, not at contract; it may be invoiced in any currency and may be divided between more than one payer, as is common for edited volumes.
Sources of Funding
Funding is typically departmental, grant-driven, or institutional: a research allowance held by the author’s department or college, a research grant on which publication costs are eligible, or a university open-access fund administered by the library. Several major funders operate dedicated funds for open-access books.
| Funder | What is available |
|---|---|
| UKRI | A dedicated open-access fund for monographs, book chapters and edited collections, opened in November 2023 and accessed through eligible UK research organisations. Applies to in-scope outputs published from 1 January 2024. |
| Wellcome | Funding for open-access fees for books and chapters by grant holders. |
| Horizon Europe and the ERC | Open-access costs for long-text publications are eligible against the grant. |
| Leverhulme Trust | Open-access publication charges are an allowable cost during the lifetime of a grant. |
Authors holding an award from any of these should consult their institution’s research office or library open-access team. Formal quotations and tax documentation are available for research offices.
Authors without Funding
Authors without access to a departmental, grant, or institutional fund should say so at proposal stage. A reduction, a staged payment, or occasionally a waiver may be agreed; the question is considered separately from the editorial decision, and after it.
Editorial Independence
Editorial decisions are taken without knowledge of an author’s funding. The Advisory Board sees proposals, reviewer reports and author responses; it is not told whether or how the charge would be met. No charge is made for submission, for peer review, or on a decline, and no charge is added after contract for length, images, or colour.