Open Book Collective: Collective Development Fund Grant

Open Book Collective: Collective Development Fund Grant

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: The Open Book Collective
Amount: €7,500 - €15,000
Last Updated: January 30, 2026

Summary

The Open Book Collective's Collective Development Fund aims to enhance the accessibility and diversity of Open Access scholarly books. With grants ranging from £7,500 to £15,000 for projects lasting up to 12 months, it supports global applicants in publishing and infrastructure development. The fund encourages projects that prioritize community engagement and bibliodiversity, while fostering collaboration over competition. Applications are welcomed from individuals and organizations, with a focus on sustaining OA publishing beyond traditional markets.

Overview

*Please note that the fund does not support costs directly associated with the production of specific scholarly publications, for example, Book Processing Charges (BPCs). Background The Open Book Collective was developed as part of the COPIM project, which ran from 2020 to 2023. It is a UK charity, with a charitable object, as outlined in our Articles of Association, ‘to advance the education of the public in general […] by increasing access to research and academic materials through the support of open-access books and infrastructures’. The Open Book Collective is now playing a core role in the Copim community’s new Open Book Futures project, which is funded by Arcadia and the Research England Development Fund until 30th April 2026. We have seven key values: care for and curation of high-quality open access (OA) academic books;a commitment to bibliodiversitycollaboration and resource-sharing over competition;networked community-building over profit-driven centralization;horizontal working relationships over exclusive hierarchization;‘scaling small’ and ‘smaller’ over ‘scaling up’; andgrowing and safeguarding access to academic books for global readers without barriers. Call and Guidance for Applications to the OBC Collective Development Fund One of the key aims of the Open Book Collective is to support publishers, infrastructure providers, and other organizations to build capacity to increase the quantity, quality, and diversity of Open Access books. One way it does this is by awarding grants from its Collective Development Fund. The Collective Development Fund is funded from two sources: directly, from funders, as well as from our publisher and service provider members. The Open Book Collective allocates 5% of the Supporter Programme revenue received from subscribers to the Collective Development Fund. With this call, we are pleased to announce the official launch of the fund, with applications for projects of no more than 12 months, with grants available of between £7,500 and £15,000. We expect Collective Development Fund calls to be repeated annually. Purpose of Collective Development Fund grants This fund is to support: Work towards the publication of Open Access scholarly books*Work on the creation and support of infrastructures for the distribution, cataloging, and preservation of Open Access scholarly booksBuilding and sustaining networks and advocacy for the support of OA scholarly books and infrastructureOther projects building capacity for scholarly OA book publishing

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. We welcome applications from individuals and organizations globally, who meet the eligibility criteria below. Applicants should ensure that proposed projects are eligible for funding, as follows:This fund is open to applicants anywhere in the world, except for individuals or countries listed under the ineligibility section.  Both new and established initiatives are welcome to applyApplicants must be at least 18 years of ageIndividuals, teams and organizations are all eligible to apply. Teams and organizations must nominate a main contact person on the application formGrants may be held alone or in conjunction with other funding. Other sources of funding must be declared as part of the applicationApplicants should submit no more than one application in each CallOBC members are permitted to applyApplicants must apply in one of three specified languages: English, Portuguese, or Spanish.In addition, proposed projects should meet at least some of the following criteria:Contributing towards open source outputs / initiatives Enabled for maximal re-useCommunity-ledSupporting non-commercial work / initiatives

Ineligibility

Individuals or countries affected by UK sanctions or banking restrictions, including Afghanistan, Belarus, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo Republic, Crimea, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Donetsk Peoples Republic, Eritrea, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Lugansk Peoples Republic, Myanmar, North Korea, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Russia, Venezuela, and YemenOBC staff, including employees and current contractors, are not permitted to applyFor-profit enterprises are not eligible for funding