A Thousand and One Monographs

The Open Monograph Press (OMP), developed by the non-profit Public Knowledge Project (PKP), serves as a platform for freely and openly accessible scholarly monographs published by ZRC SAZU. Since its launch in 2019, the portal has steadily expanded, initially hosting 342 previously published digital monographs and continuing to add both new and archival publications each year.

This summer, the portal reached its 1,001st publication with Shaping the Future by Viktor Žakelj (foreword by Bogomir Kovač); although the book has not yet been downloaded very often, its title suggests that its time is yet to come. Other highly downloaded monographs cover a diverse range of scholarly subjects: the complexities of Slovenian orthography and language use; urban development and disaster management through the lens of sustainable city planning; women designers and engineers between 1918 and 1945; Mediterranean myths from antiquity to the eighteenth century; local puzzles and folklore; heritage interpretation and transformation of industrial towns; and contemporary geopolitical analysis, such as the impact of Western policies on the conflict in Ukraine.

Currently, 65.4% of ZRC SAZU’s monographs are openly accessible, with The Fran Ramovš Institute of the Slovenian Language leading the contribution of freely available publications (191). The portal is maintained by Uroš Parazajda and Primož Svetek, with an upcoming update to version 3.5 planned for next year, continuing to support the mission of open and accessible scholarly publishing.