Digital Monographs in the Humanities and Social Sciences: Report on User Needs

Abstract

In the European Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) there is fertile ground for the\ndevelopment of eMonographs published in Open Access. As this study shows, an increasing\nnumber of scholars in these disciplines are using digital resources and tools\nin their daily research practice, in their reading and writing, as well as in their teaching\ncurricula. A substantial part of the scholars in these fields is open to innovations in\npublishing formats and regimes, most importantly concerning eMonographs and Open\nAccess. Despite the fact that this openness is not equally common in all scholarly\nfields, there is a critical mass to buttress the Open Access publishing of eMonographs.\nMany scholars in the HSS see this newly developing form of publishing as an important\ncontribution to their ambition to share their knowledge and research results with\ntheir peers and other potential readers, provided there is sufficient quality control.\nThese are the main conclusions of this study based on the direct consultation\nof some 40 experts from relevant groups of stakeholders in academic publishing, a\nreview of relevant literature, data gathered from two round table discussions and an\nonline survey that reached approximately 250 scholars in the Humanities and Social\nSciences.