TOME supports the work of university presses by providing grants for scholarly monographs that are deserving of publication but increasingly difficult to publish due to market-based concerns.
TOME makes the work of humanities and social science faculty more widely available both inside and outside the academy, which advances the core mission of colleges and universities to create and transmit new knowledge for public benefit.
TOME’s mission is twofold: 1) to harness the potential of digital publishing technologies to increase access to book-length research in the humanities and social sciences and 2) to ensure the long-term economic viability of the scholarly publishing system.
To accomplish our mission we believe it is essential to change the way monograph publishing is funded. The reality is that university presses can no longer cover the costs of publishing specialized monographs through sales alone. Likewise, it is unreasonable to expect humanities and social sciences fields to adopt a STEM-style author-pays system. For these reasons, we believe that the only rational solution to the scholarly monograph dilemma is a system of institutionally funded faculty book subsidies that retains the same commitment to editorial excellence while guaranteeing global access through open access editions.
Of course, such a solution cannot be formulated and implemented overnight, which is why we seek partners and collaborators committed to fundamental change. TOME is eager to work with other open monograph initiatives that share the same vision of bringing together scholars, universities, libraries, and presses in pursuit of a common goal—a sustainable open monograph ecosystem. In short, TOME is a movement not a club.
Discover Research from TOME
Here you will find just a few of the latest monographs published with TOME funding.
TOME is part of a growing movement to open up scholarly research to the world. As such we support the work of other initiatives and, wherever possible, hope to collaborate with them.
The Sustainable History Monograph Pilot (SHMP) is a Mellon-funded initiative to publish open digital editions of high-quality books from university presses in the field of history.
Toward an Open Monograph Ecosystem (TOME) 2020 Meeting
The 2020 TOME Stakeholders Meeting is scheduled for Thursday, October 22, 10:00 am–3:00 pm. It will be held virtually, via Zoom, and is open to the public.
Penn State University Libraries to Host TOME Author Discussions during Open Access Week
Penn State University Libraries is holding two virtual panel discussions on October 20-21 with Penn State authors who have published open access monographs through TOME. Seven authors will discuss their research and the impact of having their work made openly available.
60 Open-Access University-Press Monographs Published through TOME Initiative
Sixty scholarly books in the humanities and social sciences have been made freely available to researchers, students, and the general public under the TOME initiative. The Association of American Universities, Association of Research Libraries, and Association of University Presses launched TOME (Toward an Open Monograph Ecosystem) in 2018 as a five-year pilot project to change […]
The Open Access Publishing Fund (@EmoryLibraries' Scholarly Communications Office) provides funds to make it possible for @EmoryUniversity authors to publish in OA journals when no other funding is available. #OAWeek
Hot off the @UMinnPress (and open access!) we proudly present Antoine Traisnel's new book, which reveals how "the drive to contain and record disappearing animals was a central feature and organizing pursuit of the nineteenth-century U.S. cultural canon." https://t.co/GsXZkRHJ4N
If you are an author, publisher, librarian, or administrator, we want to hear from you. Use this form to send your comments, questions, or suggestions to Peter Potter, ARL visiting program officer for TOME.
