The power of collective action: 32 books made Open Access with library commitment
Taylor & Francis’ Pledge to Open celebrates a successful second year, write James Watson and Maria Angelaki
Pledge to Open from Taylor & Francis has celebrated a successful second year of collective pledging in 2025, enabling 32 book titles across seven subject collections to be made available open access.
Thanks to the commitment of our partner institutions—24 in 2025 and 41 in total across both years—these titles are now freely accessible to researchers, students, and communities around the world. We are deeply grateful to all our pledging institutions across our 2024 and 2025 programmes – see the full list here.
As one of the world’s leading academic publishers with over ten years of pioneering open access book publishing, Taylor & Francis has made over 3,000 fully open access books available through our eBooks platform. Our experience in open access innovation and dedication to scholarly excellence positions us to address the evolving needs of the global research community through initiatives like Pledge to Open. So, what really becomes possible when the academic community unites around a shared vision?
The opportunity: expanding access to knowledge
Open Access provides a unique opportunity to revolutionise how knowledge flows across global communities, providing more inclusive pathways to research. This presents exciting possibilities to expand access and reach new audiences, including researchers in lower-income countries, as well as interdisciplinary scholars, students, and early-career researchers. Additionally, it opens doors to community organisations seeking evidence-based insights, presenting valuable opportunities to translate academic research into real-world impact.
The solution: collective investment, shared impact
Open Access publishing addresses barriers by enabling groundbreaking research to reach diverse groups worldwide, fostering global collaboration and advancing research by removing access limitations. This model is strengthened when libraries pool resources to make content available, especially when libraries of all sizes can participate in making collections freely available to everyone, everywhere.
Each of the seven Pledge to Open subject collections was carefully curated around a global issue to ensure maximum relevance and impact for authors and readers:
- Artificial Intelligence
- Biotechnological Solutions
- Sustainability in Practice
- Migration and Asylum
- Children’s Health and Welfare
- Global Security
- Social Movements and Activism
Participating institutions make collective pledges that fund the open-access publication of these titles. At the institutional level, partners benefit from perpetual, unlimited access to their chosen funded titles, as well as additional backlist access to up to 50 titles per collection from a pool of 1,000. But the true impact extends far beyond these benefits. Every book funded through Pledge to Open becomes freely available to researchers, students, and communities worldwide to read, share, and download.
Proven impact
Research from our 2023/2024 pilot program offers compelling evidence of the model’s effectiveness. Compared to similar non–open access titles, Pledge to Open books achieved:
- 12× more downloads
- 3× broader country reach
- 3.5× more institutional engagement
These figures represent real researchers accessing vital knowledge thanks to collective library action — including students in lower-income countries, academics at smaller institutions, and policymakers in resource-constrained settings.
Year Two has demonstrated the model’s sustainability and growth potential. Our pledging community achieved a 23% increase in the number of titles opened compared with the pilot, with a diverse membership including:
- Leading research universities such as University of Chicago and University of Manchester
- Specialised institutions including the Institute of Science and Technology Austria
- Regional representation from ANZ, including University of New South Wales
- Our first library consortium pledger
By coming together, these institutions have not only increased the impact of their own collections but also advanced global knowledge sharing and equity. Smaller institutions gain the opportunity to collaborate alongside larger universities, helping to close long-standing gaps in access to research.
Authors, too, are experiencing the benefits. As one pilot author shared:
“Pledge to Open has been a wonderful gift. It has enabled readers from 22 different countries to access our research and thinking. With over 11,000 accesses, the reach for our book is well beyond what we could have imagined.”
— Janet Gray, Assistant Professor, Department of Women’s and Gender Studies
They are also reporting greater visibility and increased citation potential, particularly for those from traditionally underrepresented regions.
Thanks to the Open Access model, the visibility of our book has increased significantly.
The wide international reach (across 36 countries and over 5100 accesses!) has not only enhanced the dissemination of our findings but also opened doors for new research collaborations and professional connections… [Pledge to Open] is an outstanding opportunity to share high-quality, peer-reviewed work globally – without barriers.
— Prof. Dr hab. Magdalena Kraczla, Business and Health Psychologist
Learn more about the impact of our Pledge to Open program.
The power of partnership
As we look ahead to Year 3 and beyond, the question is no longer whether collective funding models can succeed, but how quickly they can scale to meet the global challenge of equitable knowledge access.
Pledge to Open 2026 builds on proven success, with seven collections addressing critical global challenges available again for pledging support, we’re expanding our impact through both continuing successes from previous years and exploring new opportunities. From Artificial Intelligence and Sustainability in Practice to collections in Climate Change and Wellbeing and Mental Health, Year 3 represents our commitment to making vital research freely accessible worldwide.
Ready to join Year 3? The pledging period runs through July 2026, You can register your interest on the Taylor & Francis website or contact us at pledgetoopen@taylorandfrancis.com and be part of the collective action that’s supporting the transformation of scholarly communication.
James Watson is Open Access Books Lead and Maria Angelaki is Partnership Development Manager at Taylor & Francis