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

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