“The project focuses on an underlying philosophy of ‘scaling small’, the idea that publishing Open Access (OA) books should be something that a wide range of publishers, of differing sizes and with a variety of business models, can accomplish at manageable cost through collaborative effort and effective network-building. This way we keep the diversity, autonomy and independence of these presses intact while allowing them to benefit from the relationships fostered through setting up horizontal and vertical alliances with other stakeholders (Adema & Moore, 2018). COPIM aims to collectively develop a significantly enriched not-for-profit and open source, community-governed ecosystem for OA book publishing, to support and sustain a diversity of publishing initiatives and models, particularly within the Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS), in the UK and internationally. More specifically, the project aims to:

Remove hurdles preventing new and existing open access book initiatives from adopting open access workflows by 1) building open-source, community-based infrastructures that support the publication of open access books, and 2) establishing and consolidating partnerships between HE institutions and open access book publishers

Develop consortial, institutional, and other funding systems—building upon the partners’ existing network of 240+ libraries internationally—that will 1) serve as an important hybrid community-led revenue models for open access book publishers, 2) support the establishment of more community-owned and governed infrastructures, and 3) promote publisher-librarian partnerships around open access book publishing

Showcase alternative (non-BPC) business models that incorporate infrastructural innovations and/or cost-reductions through streamlined operating processes, production workflows and economic efficiencies—which would benefit all scales of publishing initiatives

Support the creation of, interaction with, and reuse of open access books in all their variety and complexity (including emergent and experimental genres), most importantly by ensuring that these complex digital research publications can be archived effectively

Achieve knowledge transfer to stakeholders through various pilots that will 1) enable COPIM’s technical, organisational, financial and relational innovations to scale both horizontally (to other presses) and vertically (to other partners, including universities, libraries, and funders) and 2) inform and support (future) funder requirements for open access books….”