2013 IFLA/Brill Open Access Award Winner Selected

Leiden (NL) / Boston (MA) – 31 May 2013

IFLA and Brill are pleased to announce that Open Book Publishers, Cambridge (United Kingdom) is the winner of the IFLA/Brill Open Access Award for initiatives in the area of open access monograph publishing.

IFLA and Brill are pleased to announce the winner of the IFLA/Brill Open Access Award for initiatives in the area of open access monograph publishing. The winner is Open Book Publishers, Cambridge (United Kingdom). Open Book Publishers (OBP) is a not-for-profit independent publisher of Open Access, peer-reviewed monographs in the humanities and social sciences. Founded in 2008 by a small group of academics at the University of Cambridge and London who believed in a fairer access to research results, OBP is now the leading Open Access publisher in the humanities and social sciences in the UK.

The jury was impressed by OBP’s serious effort to publish high quality monographs on an open access basis. In spite of their wide subject coverage, OBP has been able to attract high quality material in a number of very distinct subject areas. The number of books published in five years (30) is growing and indicates that OBP’s activities are based on a sustainable business model. OBP encourages authors to use the Creative Commons Attribution License within their author guidelines, although they do allow authors to select a more restrictive license if the authors wish to do so. The jury also recognized OBP’s professional and transparent website (www.openbookpublishers.com) that makes it easy for readers to browse the open access monographs.

IFLA and Brill would like to congratulate Open Book Publishers on the award. We look forward to handing over the award during the yearly IFLA conference in Singapore in August 2013.

IFLA and Brill would also like to thank all other applicants. The quality and variety of the various entries is a good reflection of the exciting development in the world of open access monograph publishing.

About IFLA (ifla.org)
The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) is the leading international body representing the interests of library and information services and their users. IFLA is an independent, non-governmental, not-for-profit organization with over 1400 members in nearly 150 countries.

IFLA works to improve access to information and cultural heritage resources for the global community in this rapidly changing digital and print environment. Our key initiatives include access to digital content, international leadership, outreach, cultural heritage, and multilingualism. In our professional programme we build the capacity of our members, and set the professional agenda through development of guidelines, standards, publications and events around the world.

About Brill (brill.com)
Founded in 1683 in Leiden, the Netherlands, BRILL is a leading international academic publisher in the fields of Ancient Near East and Egypt, Middle East and Islamic Studies, Asian Studies, Classical Studies, Medieval and Early Modern Studies, contemporary History and History of War studies, Biblical and Religious Studies, Slavic Studies, Language & Linguistics, Biology, Human Rights and Public International Law. With offices in Leiden and Boston, BRILL today publishes more than 175 journals and around 600 new books and reference works each year. All publications are available in both print and electronic form. BRILL also markets a large number of research collections and databases with primary source material. The company’s key customers are academic and research institutions, libraries, and scholars. BRILL is a publicly traded company and is listed on Euronext Amsterdam NV. For further information please visit www.brill.com.