At the end of a successful second year of its collective funding initiative, Taylor & Francis has announced the publication of 32 new open access (OA) books on key global themes, including children's welfare, global security, and AI. It has also confirmed that Pledge to Open will run for a third year.
Pledge to Open supports the publication of books that are both free to read and free to publish for their authors, though library collective action. Pledging institutions enable worldwide dissemination of impactful research, which particularly benefits readers in resource-constrained regions and authors with limited OA funding.
Twenty-four institutions and consortia in Australia, Austria, Germany, New Zealand, Switzerland, UK and USA pledged to support at least one of this year's collections. Over half of authors who will see their book published OA through Pledge to Open are based in countries outside of Australasia, Europe and North America.
New books to be made OA through Pledge to Open include: Revitalizing the United Nations; Digital Twin and Blockchain for Sustainable Healthcare 5.0; The Foster Family in the Service of the Foster Child; and Smart IoT for Sustainable Development.
Taylor & Francis has also confirmed that Pledge to Open will run for a third year. Institutions are now invited to pledge their support for forthcoming books on the following themes:
- Artificial Intelligence
- Biotechnological solutions
- Climate change
- Global security
- Social movements and activism
- Sustainability in practice
- Wellbeing and mental health
Pledging libraries receive perpetual access to 50 backlist titles for each collection they support, which they can choose from a selection of 1,000 books on related themes.
"We are delighted by the continued support for Pledge to Open in its second year, enabling us to publish even more OA books than in the last round," said Emily Farrell, VP Academic Commercial Strategy at Taylor & Francis. "It is especially encouraging to see institutions of all sizes supporting the initiative, including smaller teaching colleges, prestigious research-intensive universities and a state-wide library service. Thank you to this year's pledgers, who are helping to make vital new knowledge available to readers around the globe."
Organizations interested in receiving more details about Pledge to Open should contact: pledgetoopen@taylorandfrancis.com
"I'm thrilled that our book, Feminists Talk Whiteness, is part of the Pledge to Open program, as it has enabled readers from 22 different countries to access our research and thinking. With over 11,000 accesses, the reach is well beyond what we could have imagined. Pledge to Open has been a wonderful gift." Janet Gray, The College of New Jersey, USA
"In the case of State-Sponsored Disinformation Around the Globe, [Pledge to Open] enabled the global circulation of timely research and elevated perspectives that are often underrepresented in mainstream academic debates. This model fosters a more inclusive and accessible scholarly ecosystem, for both authors and readers." Martin Echeverrķa, Autonomous University of Puebla, Mexico
"I'm grateful that Environmental Liberation Education is part of the Pledge to Open program, as it has enabled diverse students and educators apply the book's findings to their own curriculum development." Micaela Rubalcava, Truckee Meadows Community College Reno, Nevada, USA
About Taylor & Francis
Taylor & Francis supports diverse communities of experts, researchers and knowledge makers around the world to accelerate and maximize the impact of their work. We are a leader in our field, publish across all disciplines and have one of the largest Humanities and Social Sciences portfolios. Our expertise, built on an academic publishing heritage of over 200 years, advances trusted knowledge that fosters human progress.
Our 2,400+ people, based in a global network of offices in more than 15 countries, use their skills and the latest technology to curate, validate and share impactful advanced, emergent and applied knowledge. Under the Taylor & Francis, Routledge and F1000 imprints, we publish over 2,500 journals, 8,400 new books each year and partner with more than 700 scholarly societies.
Taylor & Francis is proud to be a Global Certified Accessible publisher and to have achieved CarbonNeutral certification for our operations and print publications in accordance with The CarbonNeutral Protocol.