Diamond Open Access: A Shining Example of Community Over Commercialization
International Open Access Week 2024 highlights the importance of open scholarship approaches that prioritize public and academic interests over commercialization. One such approach, diamond open access, is gaining significant traction.
What is Diamond Open Access?
Diamond open access publishing provides immediate and free access to digital research outputs without charging authors or readers any fees. This model is often supported by universities, research institutions, or philanthropic organizations. It applies to both articles and longform publications.
Why is Diamond Open Access Important?
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Increased Accessibility: Diamond open access ensures that research is accessible to a much wider audience, including those who may not have the financial resources to either pay to publish or to pay to read.
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Enhanced Impact: By making research freely available, authors can increase their visibility, citations, and overall impact.
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Public Benefit: Diamond open access ensures that research is accessible to all, regardless of their socioeconomic status.
Overcoming Funding Hurdles
The primary challenge of diamond open access lies in securing sustainable funding. Unlike traditional subscription-based models, diamond open access requires alternative revenue streams to cover operational costs.
To address this issue, various strategies are being explored:
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Institutional Support: Universities, research institutions, and government agencies can play a crucial role in funding diamond open accesspublications. By providing financial backing, these organizations can help to ensure the long-term viability of such initiatives.
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Community-Funded Models: Innovative funding models allow communities to collectively support diamond open access publishing. Subscribe to Open (S2O) is a model for journals. By reaching a predetermined subscription goal, readers can ensure that the journal remains open access.Other models include ‘Opening the Future’ which allowed institutions to support open access for new monographs through a membership which also gave access to a closed access backfile of titles. These collaborative funding initiatives are constantly evolving, with new models emerging to support the growing demand for accessible scholarly research.
The Role of Open Access Presses
Not-for-profit open access presses offer a valuable alternative to commercial publishers. These presses prioritize the dissemination of knowledge and the advancement of research, rather than maximizing profits.
Many open access presses adopt the diamond open access model, providing free access to both authors and readers. This is often made possible through a combination of institutional support, philanthropic donations, and community-funded initiatives.
While some presses strictly adhere to the diamond model, others may encourage authors to access external research funding where available, enabling them to offer low publication fees and supporting authors without funding access.
Find a Publisher
Below is a non-exhaustive list of publishers who may be able to offer lower or no-cost open access publishing services.
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Navigating Open Access at Aberdeen
As open access continues to advance, the Open Research Team is here to help University of Aberdeen researchers in making informed publishing decisions. Whether you're planning your next publication or exploring open access options, we're here to provide guidance and support. Please don't hesitate to contact us or visit our webpages for the latest updates.
Image by the Smithsonian Institute via Wikimedia Commons, public domain image.
