Open Books
Scientific publisher CABI has launched Open Books. This programme supports authors and collaborating organisations wishing to publish open access books across a wide range of subject areas within applied life sciences and sustainable tourism.
As an international not-for-profit organisation, CABI aims to improve people’s lives worldwide by providing information and applying scientific expertise to solve problems in agriculture and the environment. The organisation believes that a crucial way to solve problems in these fields is by creating, managing, curating and disseminating information.
With experience in scientific research, publishing, knowledge management and communications, CABI’s goal is to put scientific know-how into the hands of the people who need it most, and is helping to do this with open access books.
CABI’s chief information officer Andrea Powell talks about using open access information to tackle global challenges like food security: 'About 80 per cent of the food we eat is grown by smallholder farmers in developing countries. But around 40 per cent of what they grow is lost to crop pests. If we open up and share scientific agricultural information, and help farmers reduce this huge loss, we not only help protect their livelihoods but also safeguard global food security.'
CABI Open Books are freely available online at CAB eBooks upon publication and are accessible to anyone worldwide, ensuring distribution to the widest possible audience. They join other CABI products available under open access models such as the Invasive Species Compendium. The Open Book option is especially useful for organisations with a mandate to publish research under an Open Access agreement.