Recognizing the importance of the monograph for the progress of science and taking advantage of the possibilities of electronic media, the National Documentation Center (EKT) developed and provides the Open Book service Press (http://ebooks.epublishing.ekt.gr), for the electronic publishing of books, in particular monographs, high-quality scientific and technical specifications with open access.
Open Book Press is a separate service of the ESF online publications (http://epublishing.ekt.gr) and enables reputable scientific publishers to have their own electronic publishing house of monographs. The service is aimed at non-profit publishers (universities, research centers, scientific companies and memory operators) investing in electronic publishing and Open Access.
With this initiative the ESF harnesses the power of electronic publishing for the benefit of authors, publishers and readers, and aims to make Open Book Press an important tool publishing books (especially in the Humanities and Social Sciences), and, at the same time, an innovative service to access reputable scientific content.
The monograph (an author's work that examines thoroughly and from all sides an object-subject) is universally accepted as the most important means of diffusing knowledge and dialogue around the current issues of every discipline. The new capabilities offered by network technologies have also boosted electronic monographs, allowing - in relation to the printed version - the direct diffusion of information and the enhancement of accessibility to their content. In addition, the gradual prevalence of Open Access has a clear impact on monographs: by analogy with published works in magazines, many publishers in Europe and elsewhere are experimenting with the publication of open access monographs in different formats (html, pdf, epub, etc.).
In line with international trends and the example of reputable publishers adopting this new way of publishing, the ECB is contributing to the transition to new and open scientific communication models.
Open Book Press is based on EKT's close collaboration with publishers, with the aim of exploring a long-term sustainable model of publishing open access monographs of high technical and quality standards. In this collaborative model, EKT provides the infrastructure, know-how, consulting services (configuration of online publishing houses, organization of the publishing process, content quality and accessibility elements, copyright issues, etc.), education of publishers and, at the same time, ensures the visibility of publishers and publications.
Publishers, for their part, manage publication flows, ensuring the production of authoritative monographs, ensuring quality processes (regulations, review procedures) and establishing a functional electronic publishing house (information for the services provided on the website http://epublishing.ekt.gr/el/5696By participating in the ESF's Open Book Press, publishers contribute to enhancing Open Science and comply with the requirements of Open Access Research Funders (Horizon 2020, European Research Council, Excellence Program, etc.). ).
Through Open Book Press (http://ebooks.epublishing.ekt.gr), which is based on open source technologies, five open access monographs have been developed, with a corresponding number of versions. These are the result of a pilot action carried out with the following publishers already cooperating with the ESF:
- The Institute for Historical Research of the National Research Foundation, with the new book of IIE / ETF Researcher Dr. George Th. Kardaras: "The Andes - History and Culture (4th-8th c.)".
- The Society for the Study of Historiography and Theory of History (historein / historein) with the monograph: "The Past in the Network: Image, technology and historical culture in modern Greece (1994-2005)" by Professor Mitsos Bilalis.
- The Christian Archaeological Society, with the publication: "The 13th Century Frescoes in the Churches of Rhodes", by Dr. Kostantia Kefala.
- The National Center for Social Research (EKKE) with the publication: "Making Gender Identities: Gender Rhetoric in the Speech of Non-Governmental Organizations for the Trafficking and Trafficking of Women", by Dr. Maki Kostoula.
- The Department of Economics of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens with the study of Dr. Lenas Tsipouri “European Economic Integration: Between the Hammer and the Storm”.
Designing and piloting the Open Book Press service is an important step in the process of escalating the electronic infrastructure and e-publishing services of the EKT to well-known academic publishers in the public interest at national level. The aim of the ESF is to exploit state-of-the-art technology and know-how it has developed to provide high quality services to the academic and research community in the country and to fully integrate services and content into the European Open Science Cloud.
It is noted that the ePublishing e-Infrastructure consists of three platforms for the publication of periodicals (http://ejournals.epublishing.ekt.gr), conference proceedings (http://eproceedings.epublishing.ekt.gr) and monographs (http://ebooks.epublishing.ekt.gr). These platforms host the content of each publisher (magazines, monographs, conference proceedings) and allow it to co-exist with other reputable publishers.
This creates a dynamic publisher network and a content distribution node for the benefit of readers and researchers. At the same time, the ECB's Single Access Platform ePublishing (http://epublishing.ekt.gr) offers a single point of search for the content found on the three platforms, as well as services to publishers and their users.
The development of services and electronic infrastructure for the electronic publications of the ESF was done in the framework of the operation "National Information System Research and Technology / Social Networks - User Generated Content" implemented by the National Documentation Center under the Operational Program "Digital Convergence" (NSRF), co-financed by Greece and the European Union-European Regional Development Fund.
