Open access textbooks present the opportunity to revolutionize how knowledge is disseminated. By making teaching materials freely available online, readers worldwide can engage with them, regardless of their ability to pay.
Since September 2014, Portland State University Library has published 15 PSU faculty-authored open textbooks. These textbooks have saved 1,460 PSU students more than $143,300, and the open textbooks have been downloaded more than 30,000 times here in Portland and around the world.
We invite PSU faculty members to submit textbook proposals for any discipline taught at PSU at undergraduate or postgraduate level (a PSU faculty member must be the sole or lead author). We seek proposals for texts that are comprehensive works geared toward a specific field of study. Preference will be given to proposals with applicability towards multiple, high-enrollment courses taught by faculty in a single department at PSU.
Faculty authors whose proposals are accepted for publication will receive a $2,500 grant. If requesting additional funding beyond the $2,500 grant amount, please include a detailed budget outlining all expenses. Requests for additional funding will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. For more information on how the funds could be used please see the PDXScholar Submission Guidelines.
In this round of proposals, we are also looking for authors to participate in the Open Textbook Network Publishing Cooperative. The Publishing Cooperative, a pilot program with the Open Textbook Network, is designed to provide access to a complete suite of editorial, design and production services in partnership with Scribe. For more information please contact Head of Digital Initiatives Karen Bjork.
Proposal Requirements
Please submit a description of your project and include the following information:
- Your name, job title, department; please include complete contact information. Include brief bios for coauthors if applicable.
- A statement of support from your Department Chair, Assistant/Associate Dean or Dean.
- Briefly describe the content of your book, and how it supports the intent of this open textbook project.
- Describe your intended audience, and any courses that would be likely to use the book at PSU or other schools.
- Provide manuscript specifics, such as a table of contents, chapter-by-chapter description, and the manuscript’s estimated length.
- If available, please provide sample chapters, preferably the introduction, and one or two substantive chapters.
- How often do you anticipate revisions/updates will be required?
- Include an up-to-date CV or résumé.
- Briefly discuss how you will address peer-review for your manuscript and please suggest 2–3 possible peer-reviewers (2 reviewers must not be affiliated with PSU), including contact information, affiliation, etc.
Project Timeline
January 12, 2018: Proposals due
February 2018: Applicants notified
February – September 2019: Textbooks written and published
Proposals are welcomed for textbooks that will be ready to publish between now and September 2019.
For more information please contact, Karen Bjork, Head of Digital Initiatives.
Browse the complete collection of open textbooks at Portland State University Library
window.rdrAsync = function() {
RDR.init({
mapContext: “5756237”,
datastreamHost: “datastream.bepress.com”,
datastreamPort: “443”,
datastreamStaticRoot: “//assets.bepress.com/current/”,
colorCode: “custom”,
customColor: “445a08”,
customSaturation: “50”,
customLightness: “10”,
institution_title: “Portland State University”,
site_title: “PDXOpen: Open Access Textbooks”,
site_link: “http://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/pdxopen”,
instCountryCode: “us”,
instCity: “Portland”,
instRegion: “Oregon”,
instCountry: “United States of America”,
origin: “https://library.pdx.edu/news/library-publishes-four-new-open-textbooks”,
refreshRate: 3600000,
homepageMap: 0,
publicationMap: 1,
embedMap: 1,
zoom: 1,
minZoom: 1,
stats_host: “https://resources.bepress.com”,
});
};