for Authors and Editors

Whether you have a ready book or an idea for a book, it is important to have a publication strategy.

The questions below are meant to guide you in starting a book project. Consider the following questions:

• Do you plan to write a book from scratch, or have you written your book? If the latter, how much of your book is ready?
• Do you know what type of book you would like to publish (monograph, edited volume, textbook, conference book or other)? See the book types overview.
• What is your intended audience? Examples of distinct intended audiences are researchers, students (graduate or undergraduate), professionals, policy-makers, or general audiences.
• Do you want to convert a printed book with classical copyright into an Open book? 
• Do you want to republish or re-use previously published material?
• Did you sign a contract with a commercial publisher?
• Would you like to use interactive features? See example.

What types of tools do you need to prepare your book? See the overview of supported tools.

Tips for Preparing a Book Proposal

When should you submit your proposal?

We advise you to submit a book proposal when you have defined the aims and audience of your book. That means you have a clear idea of what your book is about, who you are writing it for and why you are proposing it for publication. Clarifying your aims allows you to prepare a strong Table of Contents, even if tentative, which provides an overview of your book. Having the aims and a structure ready will help the publisher and the reviewers and may also guide you and your team in preparing the book.

What’s in a book proposal?
Below are important questions you will need to answer:

• Could you provide a tentative title?

In the title make sure to capture the book's essence. You can break it into title and subtitle if it is too long.

• What is the intended audience of your book? Who are you writing it for? What type of experts? What is their level?
• Are you submitting the proposal to a particular series?
• What is the estimated delivery date?

The delivery date estimates the time you need to complete the project. Be true to yourself and others involved – can you deliver within that timeframe? Is it realistic? Is there external pressure, project or event-related deadlines? Make sure to allocate weekly and monthly time to the project. Remember that it is your project and in your interest to deliver within a timeframe.  

• Can you provide the list of contributing authors or editors?

We recommend that you use CRediT when thinking about contributor roles.

• Could you provide an abstract for your book?

A strong abstract provides the reader with the book's aims in approximately two to three paragraphs. It should also tell the reader why the book is valuable.

• Could you provide a (tentative) synopsis of each book chapter?
• Could you provide five keywords for your book?

Keywords can be individual words or word clusters (one to two words), which are important to understanding your work and may allow readers to find your book online. 

What other aspects should you consider when preparing a proposal? 

• You should try to anticipate the reviewers’ questions and how they might see your proposal. Will someone else in the field who is not part of your project understand the issues you are tackling? How might you frame your proposal in light of the latest developments in your area? How can your proposal engage the community?
• Feedback is valuable. You are encouraged to send your proposal to colleagues or experts in the field before submitting it. You can also publish it as a pre-print to start a discussion.

Submitting a Proposal
Fill in our Book Proposal Form. You are encouraged to provide as much information as possible and, if possible, accompanying material, such as sample chapters. You are required to submit a proposal.

If you have any questions, get in touch with us.  

Please note that our books are published with the CC BY license by default. For more information, refer to our Open Access Policy. We follow the TU Delft Open Access Policy and Guidelines. You can also refer to this Guide about the Creative Commons (CC) license system.

After Submitting a Proposal
Once you submit the proposal, the TU Delft OPEN Publishing team will screen it, and you will receive a response within 15 working days. If your proposal fits our scope, it will be reviewed by the TU Delft OPEN Publishing Books Board of Editors and external experts. We provide you with feedback and discuss the way forward. Be aware that the review process of the proposal can take a minimum of four weeks.

Upon approving your proposal, we organise an intake meeting. The meeting can be planned in person or online, according to your preference. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss your publishing needs and any questions you might have about the publication process.

After the intake, we send you the Publication Agreement(s) for signature. The type of Agreement(s) depends on the type of book you are preparing.

We offer four types of Publication Agreements:  

• one for monographs or textbooks
• one for edited books 
• one for book series  
• one for conference books

One editor or author can sign the agreement on behalf of the other editors or authors as long as all contributors agree with the terms and conditions of the agreement.

An additional agreement should be signed between authors and editors for edited books, book series and conference books. This agreement is important for authors to consent with our policies and code of conduct.  Make sure that you receive the authors’ approval by email. Alternatively, authors can agree through a tick box if you are using a conference management system for managing the submissions of a conference book.

The process of preparing a book for submission will depend on the type of book you are working on. Contribution roles must be discussed appropriately and assigned for all book types. At this stage, who does what and how should be clear. The leading author or editor has set the goals of the project and the intended timeline(s).

If you are new to publishing, check our overview.

As a university publisher, we would like to see a structured book that has clean references and formatting. How can you deliver a well-formatted book?

Follow the points below when preparing your book:

Format
Deliver one PDF file, which is our default format. Other formats (e.g. ePub, LaTex, etc) can also be published. For interactive books, the default format is HTML.

Table of Contents
Below is an example of the elements of a Table of Contents:

Title Page*
Colophon*
Abstract & Keywords*
Preface
Foreword
About the Author/editors (for authored books)
List of Contributors*
Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations*
List of Figures and/or Tables with captions
Introduction*
Part 1
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Part 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
…
Conclusion or Discussion*
Appendix
Glossary
Index

*These are required.

Affiliation
In the colophon and throughout the book, consistently provide the complete affiliation of contributors (institution, faculty, and department if applicable). Provide us the affiliation in this order: Delft University of Technology (or other university), Department, Faculty.

An ORCID iD is required for editors (conference books and edited volumes) and authors (monographs and textbooks).

Ensure all author and editor names, affiliations, ORCID iDs and author sequence are correct before submitting the manuscript.

Contributor statement
You should properly describe all author contributions, including the reviewers of the book proposal and the copyright clearance and all types of relevant contributions - see Policies.

 Funding
 Include the funder information and grant number (when applicable) in the colophon.

TU Delft OPEN Publishing Logo
Use the TU Delft OPEN Publishing logo on the cover and the colophon.

Colophon
See here our colophon template.

Include funder information and grant number when applicable.

Disclose conflicts of interest when applicable.

You can add an “Acknowledgements” text in the colophon if you would like.

Back Cover
See the example of a book's back cover. 

Abstract & Keywords
We recommend including an abstract and a minimum five keywords for the book, which can be the same as the one you provided in your book proposal. This element could appear after the colophon.

We also recommend including chapter abstracts & keywords to contextualise the topic of the chapters.

References
References should be in the APA citation system. Organise them alphabetically (not in the order they appear in the text). 

You can send the list of references with the main PDF file. In addition, we ask you to provide the list in a separate document (in APA style) to facilitate recording those by indexing bodies.

Figures
Deliver figures (images, tables and charts) that readers can understand. Poor resolution figures should be removed.

Make sure to include captions below each figure with the correct source. Authors should have the necessary permissions to include third-party material.

In this portal, you can find millions of figures, photos and videos which are free to use and are released under a creative commons license.

Spelling and Punctuation
You can choose American or British style, but be consistent throughout the book.

Language Editing  
The tools below can help you with the writing structure, style and spelling. They are only available for Delft University of Technology affiliated researchers and teachers.  

• Grammarly – contact your faculty for access. 
• Academic Writing Assistant

Supplementary Materials
Review files and supplementary materials can be published and linked to the main book files. If necessary, you can request a DOI for those materials. Inform us when Supplementary Materials are included.

Supplemental materials should not include data, software and code. Refer to our data and software sections.

Research Data
TU Delft OPEN Publishing strongly supports that the data underlying the books  are archived  in a recognised research data repository in line with the TU Delft Research Data Framework Policy and will support data citation. More information on policies.

Research Software 
TU Delft OPEN Publishing strongly encourages the adoption of the TU Delft Research Software Policy. This policy facilitates best practices on management and sharing of research software and facilitates proper recognition of the contribution of TU Delft researchers to software.

Persistent Identifiers
ORCID iD: you are required to provide an ORCID iD with the final version of your book.

• ISBN: request the ISBN through our publishing services upon approval of the manuscript.
• DOI: your book will automatically be assigned a DOI. If your book requires DOIs per chapter, let us know in the book proposal form.

Copyright
Publishing with TU Delft OPEN Publishing means that authors and editors retain their copyright, except on teaching materials. Teaching materials are copyrighted by the Delft University of Technology.

All our content is published with an open license, authors are free to use and reuse their own material.

Copyright Check
Consult the Library’s Copyright Website before submitting your manuscript for publication. Send a figure list to the library Team through TopDesk before sending us the manuscript files. When you submit the manuscript, inform us if the library team performed the copyright check. If in doubt, the TU Delft Copyright Information Point can provide further information and answer your copyright questions if you cannot find your answer on the website. For your information, the results of the copyright check are shared with the publishing team.

Similarity Check
We require a similarity check as part of our procedure. Send the final version of your manuscript through Topdesk for a similarity check. Once you have done this, send the similarity report to publishing-lib@tudelft.nl to notify us.

For conference books, zip all chapters (all PDF's) in one file and send it via surffilesender.

Be aware of plagiarism. This guide can help you prevent it. 

Code of Conduct
TU Delft OPEN Publishing follows the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Authors and editors should adhere to our Policies and Code of Conduct.

Conflict of Interest
A conflict of interest (COI) in publishing happens when anyone involved in the publishing process has a personal, financial, or professional interest that could interfere with an objective and impartial evaluation of the manuscript or the publication process.

All COI should be handled as follows:

• Disclosure: Anyone (editors, reviewers, authors and any other relevant parties) involved in the publishing process should disclose any potential conflicts of interest they may have
• Evaluation: After disclosing the potential COI, it needs to be examined to determine how important it is and its possible impact on the publication process.
• Management: An identified COI requires appropriate steps. Those steps may include stepping back from certain duties or decisions, removal from the publication process, or take other actions to reduce the conflict.
• Transparency: Any identified conflicts of interest should be transparently disclosed to relevant parties, including readers, authors, and reviewers.
• COI can be mentioned after the section Acknowledgment of the publication

Use of AI
The use of AI technologies in writing/summarising is gaining popularity and is expanding. When used responsibly and appropriately in research, it can facilitate innovation. However, authors/editors remain fully responsible and accountable for the quality and content of their manuscripts. With this in mind and with reference to the COPE Position Statement of 13 February 2023, authors are required not to list AI tools as a co-author because these tools cannot take responsibility for the submitted work, and to be transparent in disclosing in the materials and methods of the manuscript how the AI tool was used and which tool was used (such as ChatGPT and other generative (language-based) AI tools for generation of images, etc.) in the writing of their manuscripts. If applicable, disclosure needs to take place at the bottom of the References section, in the Acknowledgements section, and separately in the cover letter submitted before the review process. This policy is subject to review based on new developments to include the COPE Position Statement.

Monographs: Your book will be independently reviewed by experts or by a review committee. We encourage you to opt for an open review process, but you can choose a single anonymous or double anonymous review process*. Read our review policy to learn more.

We ask authors to address the review comments and suggestions at this stage.

Edited volumes and conference books:

Editors are required to provide details about and/or evidence of the book review process(es). Get in touch with us if you have any questions. For convenience, here are some review forms you can use.

*You can indicate in the book proposal form that you would like an open review.

Textbooks:
The review of textbooks takes place before and after publication. Teachers test the book in their classroom and gather feedback from students before publishing. Students also test textbooks after publication, which can lead to an updated version. 

Send us the final file(s) of the manuscript at this stage. Please thoroughly check your files. Be aware that any changes to the published book will be assessed case-by-case by the publisher as described in our publication ethics. 

We check the books for quality assurance. We strongly advise authors to follow our manuscript preparation guidelines (step 5: Manuscript Preparation) before submitting the manuscript. We also check the language of the manuscript. We also strongly encourage authors to copyedit their manuscripts or use language editing tools before submitting their final files.  

If your book does not require changes, it will be moved to production. Send us the final files and a print version for the POD service.

If your book requires changes, we send you a report with the suggested edits. In this case, send us the manuscript with the highlighted changes.

Your book is ready to be published on our platform once we approve the final files delivered.

Your book will be available as a PDF. You will have a landing page including the synopsis, biography, supplementary materials and links to external pages if necessary. A print version is available as Print on Demand (POD) through our partner.

Print On Demand (POD): 

• Your manuscript will be available for anyone to purchase via our partner. 
• Our partner, Holland Ridderkerk, handles special requests‒ more information. 

Get in touch with library@tudelft.nl if you require additional information.

After publication, your book will be: 

• Available in Google Scholar 
• Available through OpenAire
• Included in the Directory Of Open Access Books (DOAB)*
• Indexed by Scopus 
• Indexed by Crossref for maximum impact

* DOAB is a community-driven discovery service that indexes and provides access to scholarly, peer-reviewed open access books and helps users to find trusted open access book publishers. 

Textbooks will be submitted to open platforms:

• Merlot
• OER Commons
• Open Textbook Library

We can prepare a Spotlight Blog to promote your book. Editor and Author Spotlight is a series of interviews where our authors share the stories behind their publications and their thoughts on open publishing practices. If you would like to be interviewed as part of this series, let us know after your book is published.

Social media: 
Many of our authors have benefitted from sharing their books and other publications on social media, e.g., X and LinkedIn. This generally increases engagement from your community with your work. Read this page for more information, and if you use X to promote your work, mention the TU Delft OPEN Publishing platform @TUDelftOPEN. We’re happy to help amplify your message.  

Contact us before submitting your proposal or manuscript or with any question(s) you may have: publishing-lib@tudelft.nl.