
Opening the Future
Opening the Future: A Funding Model for Open Access Books
Opening the Future is a collective subscription model for libraries, broadening your collections and funding further open access publishing.

About the model
Opening the Future brings together publishers and librarians to ensure that quality monographs are published open access affordably and sustainably, in a modified type of “subscribe to open model” (S2O) exclusively for books.
With OTF, collections can grow at vastly reduced rates and funding future OA books demonstrably costs a fraction of closed monographs.
Libraries commit to supporting OtF for 3 years by choosing a book package, and receive perpetual access to the titles included at the end. We at CEU Press in turn use the funding to publish frontlist OA titles without author-facing charges.
To continue our OA publication output, we need library support! Get in touch if your library would like participate. We have made the pricing as affordable as possible, with tiered pricing available for all sizes of institutions.
If you would like to support our authors, or would like a personal introduction to Opening the Future at CEU Press and the impact the model has had on us and researchers globally, contact us here!
Library chooses one or more subject packages with backlist or midlist (closed) titles
Library commits to supporting OtF for 3 years – this lets us plan our publication output in OA well in advance, and we can speak to authors about OA early on
Library pays either annually or prepays the three years
Access is granted on Project Muse, which turns into perpetual access after the 3 year support period
We use the funds to make frontlist titles open access – once we have EUR 8500 in the pot, we allocate this funding to a forthcoming title
Authors from the humanities and social sciences who may not have funding for OA, or don’t come from institutions or countries with monograph OA funds can publish without author-facing charges
The model supports bibliodiversity, equity and inclusion goals and mission-driven publishing
OtF works within existing ebook acquisition infrastructures. No need for a special OA fund to support
The packages are a cost-effective way of building your collection with perpetual access
- Frontlist books will be available in open access, disseminating research in key areas openly and globally – making reliable and authoritative research and content available to everyone, which is critical in times of disinformation and uncertainty
Are you assessing OA book publishing initiatives?
Opening the Future helps you make informed decisions by ticking all the boxes
- Works with existing acquisition infrastructure
- Supports Diversity, Equity & Inclusion goals
- Builds your library collection with perpetual access
- Benefits authors and institutions without dedicated OA funds
- Authors and institutions don't have to pay expensive BPCs
- Complies with funder mandates for monograph publishing
- Supports small independent university and mission-driven presses
- Sources and disseminates research openly and globally
Opening the Future_overview.pdf
All Subscription Packages
Past Meets Present
History Package
Political Science Package
Editors' Choice Package
Library Selection
East Meets West
OA Supporter Membership - CEUP
Some institutions may not wish to sign up to a book package, or may not be able to. However they might still want to support, and help to fund, the frontlist of Open Access monographs that CEU Press publishes. For these institutions we have created an ‘OA Supporter Membership’.


