Berlin, 2nd May 2018. Knowledge Unlatched (KU), the central platform for sustainable Open Access (OA) funding models, will launch its fifth pledging round on 2nd May. Brand new in this round is the first-time inclusion of STEM content as well as the addition of six new partner models, thereby making KU the largest marketplace of OA initiatives and products currently available.

In this new pledging round, Knowledge Unlatched will offer 343 books and 3 journals in the Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) as well as two new collections of STEM content, comprising 100 books and 8 journals. “With the extension into STEM we hope to demonstrate that KU’s Open Access model not only works for HSS but also for STEM books and journals”, says Philipp Hess, Manager for Publisher Relations at Knowledge Unlatched. “We are delighted with the support we have received from our publishing partners in both HSS and STEM, marking a new record participation in KU to date.”

A further key milestone in supporting sustainability in Open Access is the extension of KU’s infrastructure and outreach to further OA initiatives, helping them to increase awareness of their models in the library market. With the eight new partners Luminos (University of California Press), OpenEdition, Latest Thinking, MDPI’s HSS program, HAU Books, Open Commons of Phenomenology, DeltaThink’s OA Data & Analytics Tool and OAPEN’s Library Membership Program, KU will be organizing the funding for some of the most innovative players in the industry at this time, thereby also giving libraries a one-stop opportunity to support these initiatives financially. “Developing KU into a marketplace for Open Access has been at the heart of our work for the past two years”, says Dr. Sven Fund, Managing Director of Knowledge Unlatched. “We wish to show that innovation in our field can be cooperative, benefitting libraries around the world who will have easier access to such new ideas and models.”

In order to maximize the support from libraries worldwide for KU’s crowdfunding models and partner initiatives, Knowledge Unlatched is now partnering with more trade partners than ever before. In total nine intermediaries and 6 staff members on the KU team will be reaching out to libraries all over the world. These trade partners have agreed to flag KU titles and initiatives in their systems to ensure that libraries can be confident of avoiding “double dipping” when working with these partners. “KU’s Anti Double Dipping Alliance is a major step forward in eliminating doubt and financial waste around Open Access”, adds Sven Fund.

Libraries can pledge their support for Knowledge Unlatched and its partner initiatives between now and the end of November 2018 at www.knowledgeunlatched.org.

About Knowledge Unlatched (KU): KU offers free access to scholarly content for every reader across the world. Our online platform provides libraries worldwide with a central place to support Open Access models from leading publishing houses and new OA initiatives.

Contact:

Knowledge Unlatched:

Philipp Hess, Publicity & Communications

philipp@knowledgeunlatched.org