LibGuides: JSTOR Resources for Licensing Representatives: Path to Open Books

What it is + value proposition

Path to Open, a multi-year pilot program is a community-supported model to publish high-quality ebooks sustainably and equitably

Benefitting publishers, libraries, authors, and researchers

Launched in 2023, institutions can acquire Path to Open books on JSTOR for the first three years, after which the titles are released openly to the world. This provides a pathway for equitable access and impact for the entire scholarly community:

Readers worldwide gain access to valuable content
University presses can publish open access books sustainably
Librarians acquire affordable, high-quality frontlist titles
Authors reach a global audience

Path to Open leads the way in open access. Join us.

How it works

Academic institutions pay an annual participation to access a growing corpus of titles exclusively available on JSTOR. At the start of the third year following the publication date, titles will be converted to open access (OA).

48+ participating university presses contribute ebooks
100 titles published in fall 2023 with 300+ new titles added annually for the next three years to reach 1000+ titles through the term of the pilot, 2024-2026.
Only participating libraries will receive institutional access to the titles during the first three years after publication
At the start of the third year following the publication date, titles will be converted to open access (OA)
The books will be available in print and e-consumer versions, not in any other library aggregation, to minimize acquisition workflow challenges and publication costs.
When books are converted to OA, they will be available to be published on any platform the university press selects, in addition to JSTOR.
We are recommending university presses select CC BY-NC 4.0 for books when converted to OA. However, publishers/authors can choose more or less strict licenses based on their preferences.

The library participation fee model

*Consortia pricing available upon request

Participants pay an annual participation fee to access 300+ newly published titles each year, in addition to earlier published titles prior to converting to open access.
The annual participation fee is tiered based on the academic institution's JSTOR classification.
Academic institutions will lose access to the titles within the current three publication years if they do not pay the annual participation fee.

* All fees in USD.

Classification	Annual Fee*	2025-2026 Pilot Pricing (1,000 titles)
Very Large	$15,000	$30,000
Large	$10,000	$20,000
Medium	$7,500	$15,000
Small	$5,000	$10,000
Very Small	$2,500	$5,000
Community College	$1,000	$2,000
*This includes 300 new copyright titles released each year, in addition to earlier published titles prior to converting to open access.		Consortia pricing is available upon request.

Marketing Roadmap

Key Resources

For Libraries

For Publishers