The University of Groningen Library hosts the symposium Research without paywalls - Chances and challenges of open access for the humanities and social sciences on 22 October 2015 to discuss open access publishing in the humanities and social sciences.

This half-day conference brings together open access experts, scholars, librarians and everyone interested in open access to discuss the opportunities it provides for academic publishing.

While open access took off fast in the natural sciences, engineering and medical disciplines, its acceptance in the humanities and social sciences has so far been lower. Historians or sociologists, among others, often cite different publication strategies and fewer funding options as reasons why they find it difficult to go open access.

Are paywalls inevitable for publishing in the humanities and social sciences? What would make a transition to open access attractive?