Knowledge Unlatched Announces Results of 2023 Pledging

NISO Member News

Berlin, Germany | April 10, 2024

Knowledge Unlatched (KU), a Wiley brand, is pleased to share the results of its 2023 pledging round, which ended in December 2023 and saw hundreds of institutions worldwide pledge support for Open Access (OA) book and journal collections offered by KU and its publishing partners.

Overall, about 269 books will be made available OA in 2024. These include 71 front list books from the KU Select 2024 SDG Books Collection and 198 books from KU’s various HSS and STEM partner collections. In addition, KU will support the publication of 700 peer-reviewed blog posts, about 9 new scholarly videos focused on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and about 9 new peer-reviewed encyclopedia entries. KU’s 2023 library crowdfunding efforts also contributed to the sustainability of about 52 journals thanks to the successful continuation of 4 Subscribe-to-Open (S2O) partnerships.

As in previous years, a wide variety of publishers joined forces with KU to unlatch new content, including, among others, Routledge/Taylor & Francis, Berghahn Books, University of California Press, International Water Association Publishing, Pluto Press, EDP Sciences, Language Science Press, transcript, and wbv Media.

“KU saw its best year so far in 2023,” said Dr. Sven Fund, Wiley Senior Director. “Libraries around the world supported 23 different collections in our 10th anniversary year, proving that OA for books as well as innovative models for journals can be a success when libraries work together collectively and partner with publishers.“

To date, about 670 institutions worldwide have supported KU initiatives. By the end of this year, KU’s total impact will number around 5,000 titles published OA.

KU will continue to provide the title lists for each collection and update its ‘unlatching’ and ‘upcoming titles’ reports on its website to give librarians a full overview of titles and their status.