KU Select 2024 HSS Books

 

Making Open Access Work in Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS)

We are happy that you are looking into submitting titles for the new KU Select HSS Books collection of 2024. As the 10th anniversary round of KU Select begins, there are three important changes that you can read more about below.  We hope to create a collection that is relevant for libraries, scientific institutions, and, most of all, their patrons. We are looking forward to receiving suggestions for the quality titles that you would like to make Open Access.

If you have further questions after reading this page, please contact our Head of Publisher Relations, Neil Blair Christensen: neil@knowledgeunlatched.org

What are the title criteria and fee incentives?

General
Subjects
Publication Period
Title Fees
General

Title suggestions must have undergone peer review.


Titles must fit a listed subject and should be relevant to an international cohort of libraries.


Monographs and Edited Collections are eligible.


All online formats (ePub, PDF, and mobi) are made available under CC License types, and types are determined by publishers.


Titles are in English language and preferably published in print as hardback.


Maximum 50 submissions per publisher.


We aim to unlatch 140 titles in KU Select 2024, 20 titles per subject.


Subjects

For this year we would like to ask publishers to submit titles in the following subjects. This enables us to create a relevant and coherent collection.


No Poverty, SDG 1


Good Health and Well-being, SDG 3


Gender Equality, SDG 5


Decent Work and Economic Growth, SDG 8


Reduced Inequalities, SDG 10


Climate Action, SDG 13


Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions, SDG 16


Publication Period

Titles must have estimated publication Oct 2023 – Dec 2024.


Titles are ineligible if they were published before or are estimated to be published after.


Title Fees

Publishers receive Net Title Fees of EUR 8,250 / USD 8,884 / GBP 7,297 per unlatched title (excl. VAT).



What's new in KU Select this year?

This 10th year introduces 3 important changes:

1 . Replace our prior discipline-specific approach with HSS on subjects broadly related to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

2. Retain up to 10% of titles for contingent, independent, unaffiliated, and early career scholars.

3. Focus exclusively on frontlist titles.

We invite publishers to submit frontlist titles in the following subjects that align with SDGs:  

No Poverty, SDG 1 

Good Health and Well-being (formerly KU Focus Collection Global Health), SDG 3 

Gender Equality, SDG 5 

Decent Work and Economic Growth, SDG 8 

Reduced Inequalities, SDG 10 

Climate Action (formerly KU Focus Collection Climate Change), SDG 13 

Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions, SDG 16 


Background on the 3 changes

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Knowledge Unlatched is a leading partner in making content open access, especially humanities and social sciences books, and open access is key to achieving the SDGs. From experiences with our collections on Climate Change and Global Health, we are organizing the content for KU Select 2024 in the above SDG subject packages to emphasize the applied value and impact of the content to supporting institutions and the world. We use the SDGs for broad subjects framing, and they can be broadly interpreted as you see fit in the context of humanities and social sciences. We could also have come up with our own headers for like-minded categories, but we chose the SDG terminology for now since many people are coming together around these. The SDGs are commonly agreed to provide a shared and strategic blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet now and into the future — for all of us. 
More about SDGs: SDG Goals and SDGs Publishers Compact 

Open Opportunities

Last year, we did a pilot for KU Open Opportunities in collaboration with University of Michigan Press, and we are applying principles from the pilot to KU Select 2024. We will reserve up to 10% of unlatched titles for researchers who have insufficient access to funding for fee-based Open Access publishing. These are typically contingent, independent, unaffiliated, and early career researchers with limited institutional support. The titles will undergo the same selection committee review as all titles.

Frontlist focus

Library supporters increasingly want to support frontlist rather than backlist titles, and in KU Select 2024 we will only offer unlatching for frontlist titles. We may revisit backlist titles in future collections.


Submissions

For title suggestions, only metadata is needed. Please complete the template metadata spreadsheet and email it to: neil@knowledgeunlatched.org 

Following the selection committee review and the pledging, publishers with titles that are successfully funded for unlatching in KU Select 2024 will be provided with instructions for providing updated book, cover and metadata files as titles are published during 2024. 


Timeline

Title Submission: 22 Feb 2023 – 18 Mar 2023  
Publishers submit title suggestions by completing the metadata template. 

Agreements: 22 Feb 2023 – 15 Apr 2023 
Upon submission of title suggestions, Knowledge Unlatched provides standard agreements to Publishers for signing. 

Reviewing Titles: 20 Mar 2023 – 13 Apr 2023  
KU Selection Committee reviews title suggestions. 

Packaging Titles & Addenda: 14 Apr 2023 – 28 Apr 2023  
Knowledge Unlatched finalizes materials and title lists for pledging efforts. Addenda are signed between Publishers and Knowledge Unlatched to confirm which titles are provisionally shortlisted for pledging. 

Library Pledging: 8 May 2023 – 15 Dec 2023  
Libraries are invited to pledge their support for the collections. 

Final List of Titles: 20 Dec 2023 – 08 Jan 2024  
Pledged funds are distributed across titles in accordance with the voting of the KU Selection Committee. Final addenda are signed between Publishers and Knowledge Unlatched to confirm which titles are to be unlatched or not. 

Title Unlatching: 10 Jan 2024 – 31 Dec 2024  
Publishers upload files to Knowledge Unlatched for unlatching upon publication, and no later than 31 Dec 2024.


Five Frequently Asked Questions

What happens if I need to withdraw a title, or a title is delayed?

Please contact us if that happens. If a title is withdrawn, we give the spot to the highest-ranking title that did not make the initial shortlist for unlatching. Sometimes that is a title from the same publisher, sometimes from another publisher. In the event of a delay, we may have some flexibility if the delay is within reason or may withdraw it from the collection if the delay is excessive. 

How much do I receive per unlatched title?

Publishers receive the pre-agreed Title Fee for titles that unlatch, also known as the Net Title Fee. Title Fees are based on EUR because Knowledge Unlatched is a European-based entity. In KU Select 2024, a stronger USD has resulted in a USD Title Fee that is lower than the USD Title Fee in the prior KU Select 2023, whereas a weaker GBP has resulted in a GBP Title Fee that is higher than the prior year. Publishers decide which currency they want to invoice and receive fees in.

How much does Knowledge Unlatched make?

Knowledge Unlatched retains a 15% commission on all pledges and the Titles Fees are Net of those commissions. The Net Title Fee is the Net amount that publishers receive after Knowledge Unlatched has taken its commission. For illustration, if a Net Title Fee is EUR 8,250, the collective cost to pledgers is EUR 9,705.88, including the 15% commission of Knowledge Unlatched, and the publisher is paid EUR 8,250 as the pre-agreed Net Title Fee if a title is unlatched. 

How sure can I be of my title(s) being unlatched? 

In advance, we target to unlatch a certain number of titles. All titles submitted are reviewed by the KU Selection committee consisting of hundreds of librarians. The review process results in a shortlist of the ranked titles, and these are included in the pledging round. At the end of the pledging round, we confirm how many titles can be unlatched based on the funds raised from pledges. In the most recent year, we received well over 1,000 initial submissions for a target of 383 titles in KU Select and Focus collections and ended up funding the unlatching of 184 titles. With the changed SDG scope, frontlist focus, and reduced number of target titles, we expect to achieve a higher unlatching ratio for KU Select 2024. The unlatching ratio depends on the quality of the submissions, the review of the selection committee, and the support of pledgers. 

Can I sell print copies of unlatched/ open access titles? 

Yes, publishers can continue to sell print copies. Only the online versions must be made Open Access if they are unlatched. 

File links

 
KU Select 2024 HSS Books for Publishers
KU Select 2024 HSS Books for Publishers
 
 

If you would like to know more about KU Select, do not hesitate to contact us!

 

Let's book it!