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Newsletter — monthly updates on collections, pledging deadlines, and Open Access policy.
Every year, KU manages an annual pledging cycle for libraries and institutions worldwide to collectively fund Open Access books, journals, and other content platforms from a wide range of publishers and partners. This transparent process allows more stakeholders to participate in opening knowledge for wider community benefit.
- KU’s pledging season typically begins in May and runs through December.
- Pledges can be made by emailing a KU representative directly, or via regional KU partners and agents.
- Multiple pledges can be placed at any point during the season.
- Invoices for pledges can be issued immediately upon confirmation or at a specified time.
Once the pledging period closes, KU aggregates the pledges and determines how the funding that has been achieved will be disseminated to allow for unlatching of publications and other content.
- If the funding threshold for a specific collection is reached, the complete list of collection titles can be unlatched and made available Open Access.
- If the funding threshold is not reached, KU continues to work with the publishers to unlatch as many titles as possible.
For more information and assistance with pledging, please contact:
KU Select Books is our flagship OA book collection: a multi-publisher, multidisciplinary frontlist collection of up to 200 peer-reviewed titles. The collection brings together books on important global issues and emerging areas of research, ensuring they are openly accessible and widely discoverable for readers around the world.
Each year, KU invites librarians worldwide to participate in the selection process for the next collection. Through this shared, library-led voting process, librarians help determine which titles are prioritized for Diamond OA publication.
Why Librarian Voting Matters
Librarian expertise is at the heart of the KU model. Through the voting process, valuable input from librarians helps to identify the books that best reflect academic needs, teaching priorities, research trends, and broader societal relevance. This ensures that OA support is directed towards content that delivers the greatest benefit to the scholarly community.
Participating in the voting process does not commit you or your institution to supporting a KU collection financially. Every vote contributes to a high-quality, community-driven collection and helps make the KU OA ecosystem work for researchers, students, and readers worldwide.
How to Vote
- Call for Voting: Announcements inviting librarians to participate in voting made via email and social media (follow KU for more information- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/knowledge-unlatched)
- When voting opens: Participants register on the voting platform to begin the voting process.
- Browse: Voters review the subject categories and titles available for potential inclusion in the KU Select Books collection.
- Vote: Voters select the titles they wish to support for Open Access publication.
- Submit and share: More voices are better! Voting librarians may share the process and encourage colleagues to participate as well.
- Results: Voting remains open for approximately 2–3 weeks. Once voting closes, the KU team finalizes the title list for inclusion in the next KU Select Books collection.
To support seamless discovery and access, metadata for all unlatched titles is made available in formats that are compatible with library discovery systems and knowledge bases.
Through our collaboration with OAPEN, libraries can access high-quality metadata, including MARC records and KBART files, helping ensure that Open Access books are easily discoverable in library catalogs, discovery layers, and link resolver services.
By making titles available through established library metadata channels, KU helps maximize the visibility, accessibility, and impact of Open Access content for researchers, students, and readers worldwide.
COUNTER-compliant usage data for your unlatched holdings:
KU uses reasonable efforts to provide publishers and pledging institutions with COUNTER-compliant usage reporting for the delivered Hosting Platform(s) and/or title(s).
For more information and assistance with usage statistics, contact:
How do I access the unlatched content?
All KU open access book publications are discoverable via OAPEN, making them easy to find, read, and download. Users can access content directly through the OAPEN platform without any paywalls or subscription requirements.
Where can I download KBART/ MARC files?
KU metadata, including KBART files and MARC records, are available for download on the KU website (Title Lists) and can also be found via OAPEN. Through OAPEN, KU metadata is also distributed to library discovery services that include ProQuest Ex Libris (CDI, Summon, Alma, SFX, Serials Solutions, 360 Knowledge Base) and EBSCO’s EBSCO Discovery Service (EDS).
Who should I contact if I have a question regarding the pledging options?
For information and assistance with voting, selecting content or pledging, please contact the KU sales representative for your region:
Alexandra Brown (alexandra@knowledgeunlatched.org) in North America
Olaf Ernst (olaf@knowledgeunlatched.org) for Europe and ROW.
When will the invoice be sent for our pledges?
While invoices are normally issued shortly after a pledge is made, KU is very flexible in this regard. We work closely with our library partners to determine the invoicing schedule that best suits their needs.
KU partners with publishers who share our commitment to Diamond Open Access. We welcome academic and peer reviewed content in a wide range of formats, from books and journals to reference works, multimedia projects, digitization initiatives, and emerging forms of scholarly communication. Content is assessed through KU’s eligibility and curation processes, which are designed to ensure quality, transparency, and relevance for participating libraries.
By combining publisher expertise with library-led selection and collective decision making, KU helps create a trusted, diverse catalog of open knowledge resources that serve research communities, professional practice, and society more broadly.
To learn more or participate in any of our programs, please contact: Vdebueger@annualreviews.org
Licensing:
KU requires the availability of content under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.
Learn more information on license options.
The annual pledging cycle for KU Select Books Collection:
- February – March: Publisher title submission period opens
- March: Publisher agreements finalized
- March – April: Library voting process for title inclusion
- April: Short list of titles is finalized
- May: Publication of KU pledging catalog
- May – December: Library pledging campaign is active
- January: Funding results are confirmed, and participating titles are selected to be published Open Access
- Throughout the publication year: Titles are published openly available for global readers. Publisher payments are processed as described in program agreements
The annual pledging cycle for KU Curated Partner Collections:
- February – March: Publisher (re)submission period opens for collections under consideration
- April – May: Collection details finalized, and publisher agreements made
- May: Publication of KU pledging catalog
- May – December: Library pledging campaign is active
- January: Funding results are confirmed, and participating titles are selected to be published Open Access
- Throughout the publication year: Titles are published openly available for global readers. Publisher payments are processed as described in program agreements
KU participation is designed to be as easy as possible for publishers.
Step 1: Complete the Metadata Template
Download and complete the KU book information template. Please include all mandatory fields and essential metadata such as title information, contributors, ISBN, abstract, publisher details, and the collection name under which the title will be submitted. Multiple books can be submitted in a single spreadsheet.
Step 2: Send Your Files
Email the completed spreadsheet and corresponding PDF files for each title to: books@knowledgeunlatched.org
To ensure smooth processing, please name each PDF using its primary ISBN, matching the ISBN entered in the spreadsheet.
Step 3: KU Review and Upload
After submission, the KU team will review the metadata, verify that all required information has been provided, and upload the title(s) to appropriate platform for unlatching.
Once the review is complete, no further action is required from the publisher unless additional information or clarification is needed.
Each title is assigned a pledging threshold based on factors such as title type, discipline, and funding requirements. When the required level of library support has been reached, the title moves forward in the OA funding process.
Invoices are issued according to the applicable KU program terms and are sent once a title has successfully met its funding threshold and is approved for participation.
For questions about title eligibility, thresholds, or invoicing, please contact: books@knowledgeunlatched.org.
Tip: Providing complete and accurate metadata from the start helps ensure a faster review process and allows your titles to become available for pledging as quickly as possible.
How do KU Open Services work?
The first step for interested publishers is to initiate a partnership with KU and complete a contract. Once that’s done, publishers need to complete this spreadsheet with all relevant title information. Several titles can be included as long as they are in the same collection.
In addition, we will need the PDF files, named to include the title’s primary ISBN. If the files are too large to send via email, you can use a service for upload and retrieval (WeTransfer or dropbox). Our team will help with these details.
Once the information is complete, it should be sent to books@knowledgeunlatched.org.
The KU team will review, upload, and complete the process for you.
As soon as the books have been officially made Open Access, KU will send the invoice.
To participate, please contact the KU Team.