A Guide to Open Textbook Essential and Exemplary Features

Introduction

This guide is intended for open textbook creators and the many individuals—librarians, instructional designers, graphic designers and others—who are involved in the creation and selection of open textbooks. It can be used to help to set expectations for authors who are participating in grant programs, and to develop evaluation criteria or rubrics for assessing open textbooks.  

Goal

The goal of this guide is to offer an adaptable framework for features that improve the  effectiveness and value of open textbooks for educators and learners.

This guide has been made available through a Creative Commons (CC BY 4.0 International) license so that users may adapt it to reflect different institutional priorities and circumstances. Complete license and attribution information is available at the end of this guide.

How this guide is different

There are many excellent and useful documents designed to aid authors and publishers in creating openly licensed textbooks that are publication-ready. Many of these take the form of a checklist, where the element is either present or not present (e.g., the images have alt text or the work has a visible CC license applied). This document goes beyond listing textual elements and defines quality standards to guide the creation, adaptation and selection of high-quality open educational resource (OER) texts.

Defining quality

When using this guide, bear in mind that quality is subjective. In an adoption context, quality will ultimately be determined by the course instructor, and in turn, the students. In a creation context, quality may be determined by both the author and the publisher, especially if there are grant funds involved. This guide can help all interested parties have a shared understanding of what quality may mean for their project.

Review and feedback process

Several groups and individuals have had the opportunity to review this guide and provide feedback. This includes:

• Karen Lauritsen, Senior Director, Publishing, Open Education Network
• Anita Walz, Associate Professor / Assistant Director of Open Education and Scholarly Communication Librarian, Virginia Tech
• Colleagues from the Division of Educational Ventures, Oregon State University

• Shannon Riggs, Associate Vice Provost for Educational Programs and Learning Innovation
• Karen Watté, Senior Director of Course Development and Training
• Katherine McAlvage, Associate Director of Faculty Development and Support
• Tyler Hanson, Assistant Director of Communications

• The Open Education Network’s Publishing Co-op Advisory Group (March 2025, September 2025)
• The document was presented at the Library Publishing Forum 2025 for an open review and feedback session. Participants were encouraged to engage actively in the conversation and add comments and suggestions directly to the Google document. The Google document remained open for feedback for two weeks after the conference session. (May 2025)

Categories

Ensuring quality is paramount when creating or selecting a textbook for a course. A textbook provides students with essential pedagogical support and often serves as a primary source of subject information.

This guide is divided into ten categories, or areas of consideration, when creating an open textbook. Within each category we list 1) essential and 2) exemplary features. Exemplary features include all the essentials plus the additional features listed.

A “quality” open textbook is:

1. Accessible
2. Accurate
3. Clear and consistent
4. Comprehensive
5. Culturally-relevant
6. Discoverable
7. Leaner-centered
8. Modular and adaptable
9. Structured
10. Transparent 

Accessible

OER textbooks must meet accessibility standards, currently defined in the United States by WCAG 2.1, Level AA. There are many resources that provide information about the standards and how to meet these.

While outside the scope of this guide, authors should build accessibility into their textbooks from the beginning. This is accomplished through the use of proper heading structures, providing alt text and using appropriate color contrast, among other features.

Essential

• Text includes an accessibility statement which describes the accessibility review process and a description of tools used for accessibility review.
• Text documents any elements of the text which may not meet current accessibility standards.

Exemplary

• Text includes a plan for accessibility issue remediation with target date.

Accurate^[1]

Textbook content is as accurate and error-free as possible and displays a respect for academic integrity. When possible, the textbook content has undergone a rigorous review process (peer or non-peer) and professional copy editing.

Essential

• Describes facts, events, concepts and theories, etc., in as neutral or factual way as possible, and with transparency of the author’s viewpoint when relevant.
• Strives for accuracy and fairness when portraying perspectives, goals and beliefs of others, including opposing viewpoints. The author’s viewpoint is transparency when relevant.
• Demonstrates intellectual honesty in evidence presented, utilizes clarity in logic, humility in drawing conclusions, and fairness in critique of other positions. Avoids making unfounded or sweeping generalizations.
• Uses a variety of sources of information appropriate to the context, subject, or discipline.
• Provides complete, accurate citations/source information/attributions for all resources, media and third-party text in the agreed-upon format (e.g., a specific style manual such as APA, MLA, or CMOS).
• Provides appropriate context (e.g., a date when the information was viewed or retrieved) for any content that is likely to become quickly outdated.
• Acknowledges any review process or lack of review process prior to publication.

Exemplary

Clear and consistent

The text is written in concise, accessible prose and provides adequate context for any jargon or technical terminology. The text uses consistent terminology, style and structure throughout. Graphical elements have a clear and purposeful function within the text.

Essential

• Identifies important key terms, vocabulary and concepts in a glossary or vocabulary list with a valid source for the definition or an acknowledgment if the definition is self-authored.
• Uses a consistent and appropriate writing style, tone and tense appropriate for the target audience and subject matter.
• Uses correct grammar and spelling. Technical information such as mathematical equations, music/musical notation, symbols and other special characters are accurately typeset.
• Uses audio-visual media that are clearly relevant to the text and demonstrates this either through direct cueing or proximity to the relevant text segment. Captions help contextualize the element.
• Identifies important key terms, vocabulary and concepts in a glossary or vocabulary list with a valid source for the definition or an acknowledgment if the definition is self-authored.

Exemplary

• Incorporates appropriate design elements to provide contrast between essential information and supplementary or non-essential information.
• Uses graphics and color for a consistent look and feel.

Comprehensive

The content of the textbook appropriately covers key subject areas and ideas to an appropriate depth and breadth (scope) based on the stated audience level.

Essential

• Clearly defines the intended audiences (primary and secondary), goals and learning outcomes for the text, including a description of the intended scope and an explanation of why certain content may have been excluded.
• Covers content at an appropriate depth and breadth for the level of the intended audiences.
• Clearly aligns content within the text to the stated goals of the book at the depth appropriate for the identified audiences.
• Covers the conceptual and theoretical framing of the discipline (each of which are cited and referenced) at the appropriate breadth and depth.
• Balances “evergreen” content (e.g., content that remains relevant over longer periods of time, requiring fewer updates) with current, relevant, timely and accurate examples that highlight the content’s relevance to current events or situations.
• Presents problem- or activity-based works conceptually, an adequate number of worked examples and sample problems, and activities sufficiently covering the scope.

Exemplary

• Content maps to existing disciplinary or curricular standards.
• Covers key thinkers, significant historical events, ideological developments, etc., as appropriate.
• Provides adequate opportunities for acquiring required background knowledge or building further knowledge in the form of supplementary resources (appendices, glossaries, supplementary reading lists or bibliographies, teaching guides, problem sets, sample syllabi and online resources).
• Contains relevant, real-world examples.

Culturally relevant

The text is culturally sensitive and considerate, incorporating examples that reflect a range of perspectives, identities and backgrounds.

Essential

• Includes a range of people and experiences in both the text and media (including but not limited to culture, gender, ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, education and religion) and, whenever possible, takes into account the local and geographic contexts of the subject being addressed.
• Reflects a diversity of expertise and knowledge, especially where diverse voices have yet to be heard.
• Includes visuals that represent a variety of cultural contexts, abilities, gender and ethnic identities and geographies.
• Encourages students to critically examine cultural norms and biases.
• Respects cultural heritage by seeking permission before including traditional knowledge that has protocols for access.

Exemplary

• Incorporates examples relevant to the local context where the textbook is being used.
• Explores how culture intersects with power structures.
• Avoids negative stereotypes or sensitive subjects in problems and applications unless the subject matter demands it. (Source: BC Campus. Diverse and Inclusive Representation in OER)  

Discoverable

The text includes features and functionality that aid in its discoverability and usage.

Essential

• Includes accurate and complete metadata, including license, author(s) and copyright holder(s), date of publication, publisher, descriptive keywords and subject headings for better findability.
• Provides a method for submitting corrections (errata) that is regularly monitored.
• Is made available in a variety of repositories and referatories whenever possible.

Exemplary

• Includes an ISBN or DOI.
• Provides current, accurate and openly available usage and/or adoption data.
• Lists the repositories and referatories where the textbook is included.

Learner-centered

The text is designed to support diverse learners’ needs.

Essential

• Clearly defines the audience for the content, usually in an introduction or preface.
• Uses pedagogical elements that support the learning outcomes consistently throughout the text.
• Acknowledges students’ prior knowledge and learning experiences and clearly states the prerequisite knowledge necessary for comprehending the content.
• Provides adequate opportunities for students to reflect on content (e.g., discussion or critical thinking questions) at relevant points in the text.
• Uses different modes (text, media) for redundant presentation of essential information with appropriate balance between text and graphics to reduce cognitive load.
• Includes cross-references and links between modules to facilitate navigation and encourage deeper understanding of the subject matter.
• Makes the text available online and available for download for offline reading in accessible formats (e.g., Epub, PDF).

Exemplary

• Indicates when supplementary content serves for enrichment only (e.g., call-out boxes with supplementary content, reference to materials for additional learning, etc.).
• Provides appropriate context or warnings for content that may trigger strong reactions.
• Uses interactive tools (e.g., H5P or Hypothes.is) to provide opportunities for meaningful reflection, connection-building and self-assessment.
• Documents the reading score of the text and how it is appropriate to the target audience.

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Modular and adaptable

Text that is divided into smaller units or sections allow users to easily navigate to key content. Units or sections are mostly self-contained allowing for easy adoption or adaptation.

Essential

• Organizes content into smaller, self-contained segments (sections and sub-sections), each focusing on a specific topic or concept.
• Shows relationships between different concepts and topics in self-contained segments.
• Organizes sections and subsections so they can be easily adapted or pulled from the content with only a few updates or changes.
• Content that is relevant to a specific unit (e.g., section or chapter) is integrated into the unit (e.g., chapter references are included in each chapter rather than the end of the text).
• Makes content available in multiple types of formats that can be easily adapted without the need for specialized software or equipment.

Exemplary

• Includes cross-references and links between modules to facilitate navigation and encourage deeper understanding of the subject matter.
• Describes ways to use the textbook both in the classroom and for self-study, usually in the front matter or in an appendix.
• Includes materials such as a sample course syllabus, instructor guidelines, supplementary materials, additional assessment tools (e.g., quiz or homework question sets that can be imported into an LMS) that support the adoption or adaptation of the text.
• Includes guidance for future adopters and adapters of the text on how to use the textbook effectively.

Structured

The topics in the text are presented in a logical and consistent fashion that support the students’ learning over time. The content is formatted in a way that supports navigation.

Essential

• Defines and explains the textbook’s sequence structure in the introductory matter (e.g., introduction or preface).
• Uses repeating design elements and functional devices, including table of contents, chapter titles, headings, sections and sub-sections, and outlines, to structure the content in a consistent way.
• Uses short, descriptive and accurate titles or labels for units, chapters, sections and subsections as well as for supplementary materials (e.g., call-out boxes).
• Media elements, including figures and tables, are numbered consecutively to clearly indicate the chapter or order of the elements within the text.

Exemplary

• Provides non-sequential pedagogical paths through the book in the introduction or appropriate section (e.g., suggestions for other ways the content may be ordered or read).

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Transparent

Readers, adopters or adapters of the text are provided with appropriate information that allows them to assess how the work meets accepted standards for the ethical use of external content.

Essential

• Follows accepted guidelines and best practices for acknowledging the use of adopted or adapted openly licensed content.
• Indicates when non-openly licensed content is used with permission or fair use.
• Includes a dated change log or version control log describing any revisions to the content and/or adaptation process.
• Follows institutional AI policies regarding the use and acknowledgement of AI-generated content, or, if absent, provides transparency about AI-generated content and includes a statement on process for reviewing for accuracy, or follows the guidelines provided by the [department/unit/publisher] approved style manual (e.g., APA, CMOS, MLA).
• Does not knowingly infringe any copyright, not invade the privacy of any persons or people, nor contain any scandalous or libelous matter.

Exemplary

• Provides evidence that all content drawn from non-openly licensed sources has undergone a documented fair use four-factor analysis, or copyright permissions have been obtained for text, graphics, images, media, etc.
• Provides a comparison of the current version of the text to the prior version(s) along with a description of how often the information is updated in the change log.

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Glossary of terms

Adapt — Make content changes to an openly licensed textbook or merge several openly licensed textbooks/OER to create a new openly licensed resource.

Adopt — Implement an openly licensed textbook in a course without content changes

Alt text — Descriptive information that needs to be included with an image to allow readers using a screen reader to understand the image. It is not the same as a caption.

Attribution statement — A statement that credits the original creator of the content. Attributions for OER content should include the title of the work, the author, the source and the license with links to the original source when possible. Open Washington provides a useful online Attribution Builder.  

Caption — Descriptive text that appears below an image. Captions should be succinct and informative and indicate the relevance of the image to the text

Formative assessment — Any type of assessment that is low-stakes and ongoing. Formative assessments help students identify gaps in their understanding, giving them the opportunity to review unfamiliar content. (Source: Carnegie Mellon University

H5P — A free online tool for creating interactive elements in HTML5. Interactive elements built in H5P such as multiple choice questions, fill-in-the-blank and flashcards can be embedded at various points in a textbook for formative and summative assessment

Learning outcomes — Also called learning objectives, these are measurable statements usually listed at the beginning of a chapter, section or sub-section that define what knowledge students will have when finished. Learning outcomes are developed using Bloom’s Taxonomy

Monograph — “A detailed written study of a single subject, usually in the form of a short book.” (Source: Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries) Textbooks differ from monographs in that textbooks are generally designed to help readers learn a new subject. Textbooks usually cover generally accepted concepts and contain examples and sometimes problem sets, whereas monographs are designed to present in-depth, original scholarship and research, usually on one specific subject. (Source: American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers | Textbook and Monograph Authors)

Pedagogical elements — Elements in a textbook that help guide the reader through the content and provide additional learning support. Pedagogical elements are often grouped as openers (e.g., learning objectives, introduction), closers (e.g., review questions, chapter summary), and integrated elements (e.g., case studies, vocabulary). See the Open Education Network Pub101 curriculum for examples of pedagogical elements

Reading score — A score assigned to a text that indicates its complexity and the reading ability needed to comprehend it. Tools such as the Flesch reading ease score helps the author assess if the text can be understood by the intended audience.  Authors can use the built-in Microsoft Word tool to determine the readability of the text. See Readable.com for additional readability formulas.

Scope — The book's scope is the depth and breadth of the content the author wants to cover. In order to be most useful, the scope should contain the content typically covered in a course or a series of courses in a field of study (Source: Open Education Network’s Pub101). See the Pub101 module on Structuring a Textbook with Pedagogical Elements

Sequence — The sequence of the content is the order in which the content is covered (Source: Open Education Network’s Pub101)

Structure — Predictable content organization so that it is consistent, repeatable and expected. A common textbook structure is unit, chapter and section or chapter, section and sub-section. A good structure facilitates learning and instruction. (Source: Open Education Network’s Pub101)

Summative assessment — Assessment that takes place at the end of instruction to evaluate student learning. Summative assessments are often high-stakes, such as a mid-term or final exam. (Source: Carnegie Mellon University

Textbook: A textbook is a multifaceted publication, distinct from a monograph, as it encapsulates the core elements of a discipline or subject, structured in a manner that facilitates progressive learning.

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License and attribution for this guide

A Guide to Open Textbook Essential and Exemplary Features by Stefanie Buck, Oregon State University, and the Open Education Network is licensed (CC BY 4.0) unless otherwise noted. Last updated November 20, 2025. Contact open@umn.edu. If you adopt this guide at your institution or would like to share feedback about this guide, let us know.

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[1] The accuracy of the content is best assessed by a subject-matter expert through a traditional peer-review process (e.g., double or single anonymised) but other review and feedback models are also possible, such as open peer review or post-publication peer review. For an example of the different types of peer review, see Peh, W. C. Peer review: concepts, variants and controversies. Singapore Medical Journal, 2022, 63(2, 55-60. doi: 10.11622/smedj.2021139 

[2] In addition to subject-matter expert peer review, many open textbook authors use beta testing or small group feedback (preferably paid) to gather student feedback on the content prior to publication. This is done mostly to improve the readability of the writing, to identify missing context or identify places where media elements could provide clarity, rather than content accuracy.