Financing your book
UCL Press was established to further UCL’s commitment to widespread dissemination of scholarly research via open access, and to disrupt the traditional publishing model of high prices and low sales. The open access model is exciting, and our international downloads show that worldwide demand for scholarly content is very strong.
But while the costs of production and promotion remain the same as for print books, open access publications generate relatively little income to pay for them, so funding has to come from elsewhere. UCL Press meets all publication costs for authors and editors based at UCL, as well as for their collaborators, and we offer a BPC waiver scheme for a number of projects written by non-UCL authors every year. In instances where we can’t fund publication, we make a book processing charge (BPC) to cover the costs of publication (see below).
UKRI’s new open access policy for books came into effect in January 2024. UCL Press is compliant with this policy and we welcome proposals from authors whose works acknowledge UKRI funding. Details of the policy and the funding routes for authors in this position can be found below.
Free open access publication
We’re able to offer full funding to:
- authors and editors who work at UCL
- non-UCL co-authors and co-editors working with UCL-based collaborators
- non-UCL contributors to edited volumes where an editor is based at UCL
- non-UCL authors and editors who qualify for the waiver scheme
- non-UCL authors whose books are published in a book series managed by a UCL series editor
BPC waiver scheme
Publishing open access can pose a challenge to academics who cannot meet the BPC from their funder or their institution. To offer authors and editors in this position the opportunity to publish in open access form with UCL Press, we cover the publication costs of up to five non-UCL projects each year.
To be eligible for this scheme, projects must:
- be of exceptional quality
- offer a distinct voice
- have the potential to make an impact
- be written in an engaging and accessible tone
If you’d like to be considered for the scheme, please let your commissioning editor know when you introduce your project to them. We ask applicants to the scheme to demonstrate they’ve tried to find funding to cover the BPC.
UKRI open policy for long-form publications
From January 2024, UKRI-funded long-form publications must be made open access no later than 12 months after publication under CC BY or another Creative Commons licence. The requirement does not apply to outputs that are published before 1 January 2024. The full policy can be found here:
https://www.ukri.org/publications/ukri-open-access-policy/uk-research-and-innovation-open-access-policy/
What publications are covered?
UKRI's open access policy applies to monographs, book chapters and edited collections that acknowledge funding from UKRI or any of its councils, and are published on or after 1 January 2024. It does not apply to:
- Trade books, unless they are the only output from UKRI-funded research.
- Scholarly editions.
- Exhibition catalogues.
- Scholarly illustrated catalogues.
- Textbooks.
- All types of fictional works and creative writing.
- Outputs published seven or more years after the formal end of a UKRI-funded project.
UCL authors whose books acknowledge UKRI funding and who wish to publish with UCL Press should inform their commissioning editor at the point of submitting a proposal. The application for UKRI funding for monograph authors in this position will be made by the UCL Open Access team. Full details can be found here:
Non-UCL authors whose books acknowledge UKRI funding and who wish to publish with UCL Press should inform their commissioning editor at the point of submitting a proposal. They should also contact the OA team at their institution who will apply to UKRI for the funding to cover UCL Press’s book processing charge. The maximum amount that can be covered by UKRI is £10,000 inclusive of VAT, in line with UKRI’s policy.
Book publication charge (BPC)
If you’re a non-UCL author who’s received funding to publish in open access form, we’re delighted to offer a full service at the following rates:
Our BPC is on a rising scale, depending on book length, and is applied as follows:
£5,500 up to 60k words
£7,500 for 60-125k words
£9,000 for 125- 200k words
£10,500 for 200-275k words
Bespoke costs for anything over 275,000 words
Note that UK Value Added Tax (VAT) will be added to the fee, where applicable.
If you have any queries on the above, please do contact one of our commissioning editors.