Taylor & Francis is marking an open access (OA) milestone with a showcase of ‘must read’ books and chapters highlighting the role of OA in driving progress on global issues.
Negotiating Bioethics became the first fully open access Taylor & Francis book in 2013. Ten years later, with a list of more than 1,500 OA titles and thousands and of individual open chapters, Taylor & Francis is one of the world’s leading open access book publishers.
In a new collection, Taylor & Francis editors nominate 12 standout OA books of the last decade on important global issues, including human rights, environmental justice, sustainable development and public health.
The chosen books put a spotlight on the role of open access in sharing new knowledge with a broad readership. This is especially important when research has implications for policy or practice, such as Technology and Sustainable Development, focusing on the practical challenges facing governments around the world.
Other featured examples include: Noncommunicable Diseases: A Compendium, described by former Prime Minister of New Zealand Helen Clark as “a first port of call for health and development professionals, including ministers and parliamentarians”, and The Psychology of Fake News, cited in an OECD policy paper and one of the 10 most downloaded Taylor & Francis OA books of the last decade.
Many of the titles have also helped the public get to grips with key concepts that affect the world we live in. Gabriel Farago, bestselling author of the Jack Rogan Mysteries Series, has described RNA, the Epicenter of Genetic Information, as a book that’s not only for scientists but “will appeal in equal measure to the thinking generalist and culturally curious interested in the thrilling history of molecular biology.”
Jeremy North, Taylor & Francis Books Managing Director, said: “We’ve seen an increasing number of authors choosing to publish open access with us over the last decade, resulting in Taylor & Francis becoming one of the top OA book publishers. Our new showcase aims to capture the diversity of OA titles addressing pressing concerns for our societies today.”
North added, “My own nomination is Bitcoin and Beyond, a fascinating, multi-disciplinary collection assessing the global governance implications of cryptocurrencies and blockchains. It’s also now the fourth most downloaded book of all the 26,000+ titles hosted on the OAPEN platform.”
12 must-read open access books can be found on the Taylor & Francis Insights Blog.
