One of the fundamental principles of open access publishing is ensuring that scholarly research remains accessible to all. Certain publication formats, such as reprints, support this principle by ensuring that academic information remains relevant and visible to both authors and members of the public.

By reproducing and compiling already existing scholarly content into a digital and free-to-access publication, reprints increase research visibility and expand audience reach. This is especially useful for academic authors for reasons we’ll soon get into, but academic institutions can also benefit from what this publication type offers.

What is a reprint?

Simply put, a reprint is a reproduction of a journal article (also known in the industry as a ‘reprint article’) or collection of articles.

Academic journals can have a limited audience. Reprints enable researchers to increase awareness and visibility among audiences outside of academia, repurposing scholarly information for widespread use and accessibility through open access publishing.

This type of scholarly publication is generally offered by the publisher of the journals. For example, MDPI Books offer the opportunity to produce reproductions of articles previously published with MDPI in book format.

This brings us to an important distinction to make when it comes to reprints. They are not ‘books’ in the traditional sense. For publishers of traditional books, a ‘reprint book’ usually refers to a book that has been reprinted due to popularity and reader demand.

In contrast, reprints are scholarly articles repackaged and recirculated among audiences in a book format. They are disseminated either digitally via open access or physically through print-on-demand services. Depending on what type of reprint it is, it may be published with an ISBN, just as a traditional book may also be.

Types of reprints

Although varieties may differ between publishers, MDPI Books offers two types of reprints:

• Issue Reprints
• Custom Selection Reprints

Let’s unpack these types and their functions.

Issue Reprints

Issue Reprints (IRs) are curated from academic contexts such as thematic submission calls, conferences, or workshops. They have a specific purpose: to recirculate academic research and raise awareness of specific articles, subject areas, or hot topics.

Although classed as one type of reprint, there are four subtypes of IRs, each differing slightly:

• Special Issue: A one-time thematic collection of articles typically curated by Guest Editors according to a fixed deadline and published as a distinct, single volume.
• Topical Collection: A collection that brings together articles on a specific theme or topic or from a conference. This is an ongoing thematic collection, meaning that it may span years and form multiple volumes, with submissions being continuous.
• Topic: A cross-journal thematic initiative, with collected articles covering the same research theme hosted across multiple MDPI Journals simultaneously.
• Proceedings: A collection of articles derived from a specific conference or symposium.

Each of these subtypes is assigned an ISBN and a DOI, ensuring broad visibility and accessibility. Furthermore, reprints are published as open access, distributed globally, and indexed in international databases.

Custom Selection Reprints

Custom Selection Reprints (CSRs) are customizable collections that can include any MDPI-published paper, regardless of the journal or Special Issue affiliation. These reprints may focus on a specific theme, be interdisciplinary, or serve as author collections.

CSRs allow users to assemble articles in a book format tailored to their needs, whether as an author collection, a teaching resource, an institutional yearbook, or handouts for conferences and meetings.

Like IRs, CSRs help recirculate research and increase its visibility. However, they are tailored more towards convenience due to the personalization available to the buyer.

CSRs are also direct-to-customer books. This means they are printed and delivered only to the person or group who ordered them. They are not assigned an ISBN, nor listed in the MDPI Books Online Library. They are also not made available through public sales platforms or distribution channels.

Benefits for authors and institutions

Reprints have a wide range of benefits, for both authors and institutions. Let’s dive a little deeper into the benefits for each.

Author benefits

If you’re an academic author, you want to rest assured knowing that any research you publish remains accessible and relevant. In many cases, publishing a reprint gives authors the opportunity to receive further recognition.

This publication type brings previously published research back into the conversation. Or, conversely, it introduces this research to new, broader audiences via open access publication. The packaging of articles into a thematic context also helps readers find the content easily. This improves visibility in the long term.

Issue Reprints are also assigned an ISBN and a DOI. Therefore, they serve as an easily identifiable and accessible historical record of specific moments within academic discourse. As a result, they preserve seminal works and document the progression of knowledge within a particular field.

There are also benefits for authors not publishing a reprint but looking for specific research. Published reprints available in the MDPI Books Online Library cover a wide range of subject areas and themes. From popular fields such as Engineering to niche topics like biommathematics, authors are only ever one or two clicks away from relevant scholarly material.

Institutional benefits

Institutions require academic content for a variety of different purposes. Therefore, Custom Selection Reprints are useful for institutions.

Appealing to institutions are the ways in which this publication type can be tailored for educational purposes. Educational institutions and teachers often need materials that cover specific topics, say for example “ecological developments in the 21^st century”. CSRs are a practical format for such requirements, since any relevant MDPI article can be brought together into a custom, cohesive collection.

CSRs also fulfil planning purposes for conferences, symposiums, or meetings. Any organizations planning an academic conference can request customized reprinted article collections to use as handouts during the event.

Finally, CSRs benefit institutions by allowing them to celebrate academic achievements via the production of an institutional yearbook. An institutional yearbook is an annual publication by an academic organization – such as a school, college, or university – commemorating the successes of its students and teachers. CSRs bring together contributions from an institution into a cohesive and representative volume.

Open access licensing and author rights

Reprints are published as open access under a Creative Commons license. There are two types of licenses used, depending on the element of the reprint being referenced.

Individual articles or chapters within a reprint volume are published under an open access Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. This license enables others to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, so long as the author is credited.

A compilated reprint volume (in other words the book itself) is published using a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) license. This means that others can download or share the work freely, on the condition that it is not used for commercial purposes or altered in any way.

CC BY	CC BY-NC-ND	Conditions
Yes	Yes	Authors must be credited
Yes	Yes	Freely available online to read and download
Yes	Only for non-commerical purposes	Final version can be shared, distributed, and republished
Yes	No	Sell or re-use the article for commercial purposes without permission
Yes	No	Share adapted versions without permission

These open access licensing models simplify the process of obtaining permission to reproduce, distribute, or display copyrighted scholarly materials.

In traditional publishing, copyright for the published work usually transfers from author to publisher upon publication. This is handled by a Copyright Transfer Agreement (CTA). The CTA agreement requires formal permission to be be obtained from the publisher, creating barriers for reprint purposes.

In contrast, CC BY and CC BY-NC-ND licenses grant permission in advance, to everyone, permanently via open access.

Sharing reprints with readers

Open access publishers like MDPI Books share research publications openly for free. Marketing strategies may include promoting new Special Issue Reprints or highlighting specific journals and their most popular reprints.

Despite this open marketing approach, the responsibility for sharing reprints of a publication with readers typically falls to the corresponding author. This can be done by providing an active link to publishers who make their reprinted articles available online via open access.

Finding the right reprint for your needs

Whether you’re an author, institution, or simply a reader that wants to keep up to date with the latest research, reprints have a lot to offer the world of academic publishing.

See the extensive range of reprints available in the MDPI Books Online Library. Search by subject area, journal, and date of publication to find the right article for your needs.

For more general information on reprints, see our FAQ on this unique type of research publication.