Library Research News: August Edition
In this issue
- Wiley Gold Open Access Publishing Cap – Plan Ahead for November
- Everything you’ve always wanted to know about open access: Books
- Hot tip: AI in Library search
- What’s new in scholarly communication?
- Event roundup
Wiley Gold Open Access Publishing Cap – Plan Ahead for November
The 2026 cap for Wiley fully open access (Gold) journals is projected to be reached in November 2026. To have APCs covered, eligible articles must have been accepted for publication and authors must have completed their author agreements before the cap is reached. This cap will reset on 1 January 2027.
Find out more here: Wiley Gold Open Access Publishing Cap – Plan Ahead for November.
Get personalised advice from the Library
Uncertain whether your journal qualifies or how the agreement affects your publishing plan? Contact your Scholarly Services Librarians. They can review your specific situation, help you navigate the agreement, and explore alternative options if needed.
You can check journal coverage and determine whether an eligible journal is Hybrid or Gold open access using Where Should I Publish or CAUL’s title list.
Everything you’ve always wanted to know about open access: Books
Welcome to August! We’ve talked all about open access journals these last few months, but what about open access and books?
By making books freely accessible through open access, this research can reach broader audiences, including academics, practitioners, policymakers, and the wider community (a lot like the benefits of publishing journal articles open access). While OA books can increase visibility and impact, the path to publication is often more complex than it is for journal articles. However, there are pathway options for OA books. Paying Book Processing Charges (BPCs), publishing with a diamond book publisher, or following a green OA pathway are all options which are similar to their journal article counterparts.
One of the key challenges authors face is funding. Many OA book publishers charge BPCs, which can be substantial and are not always covered by grants or institutions. Authors may also need to navigate questions around rights, licensing, third-party content permissions, and publisher policies (even when considering a green open access pathway). For researchers new to the OA book landscape, understanding the available options can feel a little overwhelming.
The good news is that there are some resources available to help:
- The OA Books Toolkit offers practical guidance for authors on topics such as funding, licensing, publishing models, and choosing a publisher.
- The Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB) is a great place to explore openly available scholarly books from trusted publishers and discover what is being published across disciplines.
- OAPEN Library includes a large collection of peer-reviewed open access books. OAPEN also provides information about OA book publishing, dissemination, and usage. It pairs nicely with DOAB because DOAB is a discovery service, while OAPEN hosts and preserves many OA books.
If publishing a book is on your horizon, it’s worth thinking about open access from the very beginning of your project. Early planning can help you identify funding opportunities, understand publisher requirements, and make informed decisions about rights and licensing. Take the time to consider which publisher best aligns with your goals for reach, impact, and accessibility.
With the right preparation, open access can help your book connect with readers around the world. Check out our page on open access books in our publishing and open access LibGuide.
Hot tip: AI in Library search
Did you know that Library Search and EBSCOhost databases such as APA PsycINFO and Academic Search Complete now include an AI-assisted search feature? If you have a research topic in mind but are struggling to pin down the right keywords or build a structured search strategy, you can simply phrase your topic as a natural language question – the way you might describe it to a colleague.
To use it, from Library Search, go to Basic Search and select the AI-assisted search option and then simply type in your query.
Behind the scenes, a large language model (LLM) converts your conversational input into a Boolean search string — and crucially, that string is visible to you, so you can review, critique, and refine the search logic rather than accepting results as a ‘black box’.
Keeping an eye on new AI functionality in your key databases is increasingly part of a savvy research search strategy. For more AI search tips, explore our AI and Literature Review guide.
What’s new in scholarly communication?
The collections concept at the University of Sheffield: a varied approach to the role of research library collections – an article from UK Serials Group (UKSG) discussing the development of the Library collections concept at the University of Sheffield.
AI Search Is Rebundling Everything Libraries Know About Discovery – an article from Aaron Tay ‘s Musings about Librarianship discussing search and AI.
The Open Science Landscape Is Increasingly Difficult to Grasp. That’s a Problem. – An article from Katina discussing The Community Open Science Mapping Initiative (COSMI) Hub dashboard.
Guest Post — From Parasitism to Symbiosis: Escaping Peer-Pressure and For-Profit Publishers Through Diamond Open Access – An article from The Scholarly Kitchen discussing open access and academic publishing drawing ecological parallels.
Event roundup
Graduate researcher workshop: Advanced literature searching
Wednesday, 16 September, online, 10:00 – 11:30am
AI Hub: Deakin AI Principles in Action
Thursday, 10 September, online, 10:00 – 11:00am
Unlocking the equity potential of AI through Open Education
Wednesday, 28 October, online, 11:00am – 12:00pm
Check out some upcoming sessions on Overton and Covidence:
Covidence Training Webinar for Deakin Researchers and Students
Wednesday, 2 September, online, 10:30 – 11:30am
Overton for Individual Research Impact
Wednesday 2 September, online, 1:00 – 1:40pm
Overton for Institutional & Research Group Impact
Wednesday 16 September, online, 1:00 – 1:40pm
Overton for Finding Policy Documents and Grey Literature
Wednesday 30 September, online, 1:00 – 1:40pm
Covidence training webinar for Deakin Researchers and Students
Thursday, 29 October, online, 10:30-11:30am
Thursday 19 November, online, 12:00 – 1:00pm
Details for all upcoming library events will be made available on the Library events page.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Library Research News is a regular publication from the library, publishing library-related news for Deakin researchers. To stay in the loop, please subscribe to Article.
To access library research services, please contact your librarian or navigate to Research via the Library website. Scholarly Services Librarians bring discipline-specific expertise related to the following key areas:
- expert searching
- research data management
- Copyright for research
- publishing and open access
- research outputs stewardship
- research metrics.