New book publishing concept combines Taylor & Francis Books Heritage with F1000’s Open Research model

Taylor & Francis Group has launched the pilot of a new book publishing concept, Open Plus Books, that fuses the traditional print and Open Access books model with F1000’s Open Research publishing model.

United by their shared goals of amplifying and democratizing research, this first joint initiative following the acquisition of F1000 by Taylor & Francis Group in 2020 is an important further step in strengthening and broadening Taylor & Francis’ capabilities in open research and open access book publishing, as well as enabling F1000 to extend its trailblazing open research publishing offering into books.

Open Plus Books will enable authors or book editors to publish a book open access first on the open research platform within just a few days of submission. Each chapter is a standalone piece, enabling chapters to be published as soon as they are accepted, and additional chapters to be added at any time. Chapters can be updated, revised, and amended individually by the author to reflect changes in research, knowledge, policy, legislation, or standards.

Chapters have the same benefits and transparency as research articles and other content published on F1000’s own open research publishing platform, F1000Research (or one of its partner platforms such as Gates Open Research): rapid publication, open data, and an individual unique identifier (DOI). Authors can also choose post-publication invited open peer review via the Open Plus Books+ option.

Furthermore, chapters will usually include underlying data and interactive figures, enabling visualization, interaction, reanalysis, replication, and reuse. This reduces barriers to collaborative research and supports authors getting credit for their contributions to research. Publications on the platform benefit from support for code syntax highlighting, so code is fully readable in the body of the chapter.

When appropriate, the book can also then be published in its entirety in both print and/or open access formats under either the Routledge or CRC Press imprint. The author can continue to update or add additional chapters on the open research platform using the “versioning” functionality. These updates can be included in subsequent editions of the print and open access book.

Anna Clarkson, Editorial Director at Taylor & Francis Group said:

“At Taylor & Francis, we are challenging thinking about open access book publishing, as well as exploring how it can work differently, and our partnership with F1000 is enabling us to do just that. We are united in our belief that researchers should have the option to not only publish and share their work rapidly and openly but also to be able to update it and add to it. Open Plus Books are shifting the boundaries of what is considered to be a book, from something that is static and rarely updated to a model that is rapid, dynamic, and can evolve over time to reflect and lead changes in research and knowledge”.

Rebecca Lawrence, Managing Director of F1000 said:

“The vision behind F1000 has always been to develop approaches to scholarly publishing that better support the needs of today in communicating new findings, regardless of output format. We started with article-based formats, but as we expand into different disciplines, we have long been keen to apply similar thinking and benefits to other formats that better suit other scholarly communities such as books and monographs. Our close relationship with Taylor & Francis has now made it possible to partner with leaders in scholarly books publishing such as Routledge and CRC Press, and provides an opportunity to utilise our technology to rethink the benefits that books can provide to authors and users alike.”

The pilot book launched today is Child Development with the D-score by Stef van Buuren, Professor of Statistical Analysis of Incomplete Data at the University of Utrecht and Iris Eekhout, Statistician at TNO in Leiden and has been published on F1000 Research’s partner platform Gates Open Research. It demonstrates the full Open Plus Books+ approach including the open peer review option; Open Plus Books without open peer review will launch in early 2022.

Ashely Farley, Associate Officer of Knowledge and Research Services, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation said:

“I’m very excited to support the launch of Open Plus Books and see it as another stellar example of thinking outside of the traditional publishing model to truly leverage current technologies to deliver impact through knowledge creation and dissemination. All with what is best for the author and the research community central to the process.”

Open Plus Books follows the recent launch of Taylor & Francis Group’s Open Books Data Sharing Policy which encourages authors of all new Routledge and CRC Press books and chapters to openly share and make their data available. Taylor & Francis Group is the first publisher to set a Data Policy across all new books content, furthering its ongoing commitment to supporting sustainable open research. As funders increasingly make data sharing a requirement, this is an important step to support authors in making their work more discoverable and impactful, and to ensure they get all appropriate credit for their work. Taylor & Francis Group has also been rolling out data sharing policies to all journals since 2018.