SOAS joins OLH LPS model

We are extremely pleased to announce that SOAS University of London has joined the Open Library of Humanities’ Library Partnership Subsidy system. SOAS is the only Higher Education institution in Europe specialising in the study of Asia, Africa and the Near and Middle East.

The Open Library of Humanities is an academic-led, gold open-access publisher with no author-facing charges. With funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the platform covers its costs by payments from an international library consortium, rather than any kind of author fee.

Dr. Martin Paul Eve, a founder and academic project director of the OLH, welcomed SOAS: “It is fantastic to see SOAS as a member of the OLH LPS system. The benefit of open access to research can be clear, so long as it is not coupled with funding models that disadvantage the humanities. With the help of SOAS, we are building a model that will work for the humanities.”

John Robinson, Director of Library and Information Services, added: “SOAS is committed to providing access to its research outputs and data on an open access basis wherever and whenever possible. The OLH LPS system is an important initiative in making the process of gold open-access publishing as easy as possible and we are thrilled to be a member of this initiative.”

Libraries outside the US and UK interested in joining the OLH Library Partnership Subsidy model should contact Dr. Martin Paul Eve: martin.eve@openlibhums.org. UK-based libraries can join through Jisc Collections at http://www.jisc-collections.ac.uk/Catalogue/Overview/Index/2120. US-based libraries can join through LYRASIS at https://lyrasis.openlibhums.org.