Purpose of the book As many of the challenges in navigating the transition to Open Scholarship are economic, the focus of the book is on the economic arena. In addition, great attention is given to the incentives, actions and influences of meso-level actors: groups, communities or organisations such as universities, disciplines, scholarly societies or publishers because of their enormous impact on developing open scholarship. The authors analyse how economic models can be applied to scholarship and conclude that economic theory cannot fully explain nor prescribe how Open Scholarship can be achieved. The challenges to achieve Open Scholarship, such as gravitational hubs and the complex governance of common pool resources, are highlighted. The overall conclusion of the book is that for a successful transition to Open Scholarship, collective action approaches and establishment of a supportive infrastructure are key.

Next steps We hope this book will inspire thought and further discussion. Knowledge Exchange will initiate further explorative activities, starting with our workshop ‘The KE Open Scholarship Framework and the Need for Collective Action' at FORCE2019, taking place in Edinburgh in October 2019. KE will also establish an Open Scholarship expert group to identify and scope further activities which will focus on technological and social, as well as economic aspects of Open Scholarship.