University Press Library Open

About UPLOpen

University Press Library Open (UPLOpen) seeks to accelerate open access eBook publishing among university presses. The most visible piece of UPLOpen is its website, UPLOpen.com, which offers a single access point to a curated collection of exclusively open access scholarship from many of the world's most prestigious university presses with a central focus on achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).   

UPLOpen also has a distinctive approach to funding open access monographs—an approach that builds on the foundation of De Gruyter’s highly successful University Press Library (UPL) program. Libraries know UPL as a collection-based model for acquiring eBooks from the world’s leading university presses and publishing houses. UPLOpen introduces an OA component to the UPL model, thereby enabling libraries to unify the acquisition of open content with paywalled content.   

What Sets UPLOpen Apart

Focus on UN Sustainable Development Goals 
The United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) represent a comprehensive framework to eradicate poverty, tackle climate issues, and foster a fair, inclusive, and sustainable global community. In this context, academic publishers are crucial facilitators in driving these objectives through institutional practices and published materials. UPLOpen's emphasis on the SDGs underscores the distinctive dedication of HSS publishers to integrating the SDGs' expansive targets into their day-to-day operations and structure.  

Commitment to Open 
The UPLOpen platform is fully optimized to support digital-first, open content distribution. Built by Ubiquity, a trusted partner of researchers, universities, and academic societies, UPLOpen is not only 100% open access; it also utilizes open-source infrastructure, enhancements to which will benefit the broader open source community.  

Favorable to Libraries 
UPLOpen was developed with libraries in mind with processes that fit seamlessly into library collection & acquisition workflows. For those libraries that are already UPL customers, supporting UPLOpen requires no additional invoicing. When a library purchases a UPL collection, a percentage of the total amount is allocated for UPL member presses to publish open access books.       

Collective Action  
We believe that collaboration is essential to achieving a sustainable publishing ecosystem. UPLOpen is committed to engaging the full range of community stakeholders—including publishers, academic libraries, university leaders, consortia, aggregators, vendors, funders, and authors—to ensure a more equitable distribution of the financial burden.  

Collective action, however, doesn't happen on its own. That's why De Gruyter established eBound, a a 501 (c) (3) public foundation dedicated to helping scholarly publishers develop sustainable business models for publishing monographs. As a not-for-profit, eBound oversees UPLOpen's finances, ensuring that funds are distributed to UPL member presses to publish open access books.  

Scale 
UPLOpen brings together the collective influence and prestige of more than 35 university press partners, many of which have not participated in previous OA eBook initiatives. The UPLOpen business model is scalable, so the number of partner presses will grow over time.  

Publisher Choice 
One size does not fit all when it comes to publishing books.UPLOpen gives presses the ability to choose the path to open that works best for them, ranging from immediate OA upon publication to delayed OA after 6 or 12 months.  

Key Features:

Peer Review 
All on UPLOpen have been peer reviewed according to rigorous standards. Because the specifics of the peer review process will vary from publication to publication, and from publisher to publisher, readers are encouraged to visit individual publisher websites to learn more about specific peer review policies and procedures employed by those presses.  

Open Licenses 
All content on UPLOpen has been released under open licenses from Creative Commons. We concur with Creative Commons in encouraging “ethical, inclusive, and purposeful sharing that serves the public interest.” To avoid any confusion or misunderstanding, specific licensing information is displayed prominently on each book's landing page as well as inside each book.  

Commitment to Transparency 
UPLOpen was developed by De Gruyter eBound, a 501 (c) (3) public foundation established in 2022 to support the work of nonprofit scholarly monograph publishers. As the owner and administrator of UPLOpen, De Gruyter eBound recognizes the importance of trust and accountability to our stakeholders in the scholarly publishing community.  

De Gruyter eBound fosters a culture of transparency, integrity, and accountability. By operating openly and honestly, we aim to build and maintain trust among our stakeholders, demonstrating our commitment to the values of scholarly publishing and the spirit of the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals.  

Benefits:

• Focus on UN SDGs   
• Community-based approach with over 35 participating presses   
• Spreads financial burden more equitably across the scholarly publishing landscape   
• Administered by not-for-profit DG eBound   
• Fits seamlessly into library collection and acquisition workflows   
• No single path to open—presses free to choose among multiple options

Contact

Peter Potter
Executive Director of De Gruyter eBound 
peter.potter@degruyter.com.