UCL Press Joins the Open Book Collective
Posted on 20th July, 2026
We are delighted to announce that UCL Press has joined the Open Book Collective (OBC) and is now part of its University Presses package.
The Open Book Collective brings together libraries, publishers and infrastructure providers to support a more equitable and sustainable future for open access book publishing through collective funding models. Libraries participating in the University Presses package can now directly support UCL Press alongside a number of other mission-driven university presses.
As demand for open access book publishing continues to grow, collective funding initiatives such as OBC play an increasingly important role in supporting publishers and ensuring that opportunities to publish open access are available to a wider range of authors..
“We are delighted to be joining the Open Book Collective’s University Presses package. We are very impressed with all that OBC has achieved and we fully support collective funding schemes as a way of making open access book publishing more sustainable. As UCL Press continues to experience high levels of demand from authors to publish with us, additional funding raised through OBC will enable us to offer more open access publishing opportunities to authors from around the world.”
Lara Speicher, Head of Publishing, UCL Press
UCL Press is also a member of the Publishers Board of the Open Journals Collective, the OBC’s sister initiative supporting Diamond OA journal publishing, reflecting the press’s long-standing engagement with the broader open infrastructure ecosystem.
We look forward to working with the Open Book Collective community to support the continued growth and sustainability of open access book publishing.
About UCL Press
Founded in 2015, UCL Press is the UK’s first fully open access university press. We publish peer-reviewed books, journals and educational resources across a broad range of disciplines, making research freely available to readers around the world. To date, UCL Press has published more than 450 open access books and continues to champion open access scholarly publishing.
About the Open Books Collective
The Open Book Collective (OBC) is a community-led initiative that brings together libraries, publishers and infrastructure providers to support open access book publishing. Through collective funding programmes, including its University Presses package, OBC helps make scholarly books freely available to readers worldwide while supporting a more sustainable and equitable publishing ecosystem. Find out more at: https://openbookcollective.org/