Diamond Open Access

Strengthening Diamond Open Access in the Netherlands

In November 2022, the National Programme Open Science (NPOS) published the report Strengthening Support for Diamond Open Access in the Netherlands. This report offers recommendations for sustainable and structural support of, and transition to, Diamond Open Access (DOA) for journals, books, and infrastructures. The proposal emerged as one of the initiatives outlined in the Ambition Document National Plan Open Science 2030, which emphasizes the necessity of investments in a more inclusive, sustainable, and equitable scientific communication system in the context of Open Access.

What is Diamond Open Access?

Diamond Open Access is significant because it:

  • Centers public values: prioritizing inclusivity, community-driven efforts, not-for-profit principles, transparency, and academic freedom.
  • Maintains ownership within the academic community: authors retain their copyrights, and publishers do not dictate financial or content policies.
  • Contributes to bibliodiversity: enabling publications in diverse languages and on topics often overlooked by commercial publishers.
  • Provides immediate Open Access: articles and books are available without embargo, aligning with Plan S principles.
  • Ensures inclusivity: with no Author Processing Charges (APCs), making publication accessible to researchers with limited budgets.

Challenges for Diamond Open Access

Despite its advantages, Diamond Open Access journals and publishers face structural issues, such as:

  • Limited funding and reliance on volunteers.
  • An evaluation culture focused on impact factors.
  • A fragmented DOA landscape lacking coordinated governance.

UKB’s Approach

Since April 2023, UKB has been developing an action plan to address these obstacles. The goal is to strengthen DOA as a high-quality and sustainable publishing model. The NPOS report recommendations form the foundation of this plan, supplemented with insights from the Action Plan for Diamond Open Access (Science Europe) and feedback from stakeholders and users.

Program Objectives

To contribute to a diverse, rich academic publishing landscape with inclusive and equitable publishing models.

Duration: 2024–2026
Lead Organization: University Library of Erasmus University Rotterdam
Commissioner: UKB, funded by Universities of the Netherlands (UNL)
Program Manager: Susanne van Rijn
Steering Committee:Kurt de Belder (Leiden University Libraries), Lucinda Jones (Erasmus University Library), Marjolein Nieboer (University Library Groningen), Hilde van Wijngaarden (VU University Library)
Advisory Group: Sible Andringa (University of Amsterdam), Francis Brouns (Open University)
Jean-Sébastien Caux (SciPost, University of Amsterdam), Dirk van Gorp (Open Science Officer, Radboud University Library), Darco Jansen (Manager Open Science & Open Access, Universities of the Netherlands)

Projects within the Program

1. National Expertise Center for Diamond Open Access

The expertise center promotes knowledge sharing and collaboration within the academic community through a Community of Practice (CoP), training sessions, workshops, and discipline-specific toolkits. The center will be hosted on an online platform.

Project Lead: Maria Constantin
Team Members: Juliana Costa Pitanguy (TU Delft Open), Femke Holwerda (Utrecht University), Bregt Lameris (Open University)

2. Capacity Building for DOA Publication Platforms

In collaboration with Openjournals and the Netherlands University Presses, a national strategy will be developed for local, national, and international investments in DOA infrastructure and publications. This enables participants to focus on innovation and long-term publication strategies.

Project Lead: Susanne van Rijn
Team Members: Ron Aardering (Maastricht University Press), Elisabeth Elbers (Radboud University Press), Beatriz Ferreira (Open Press Tilburg University), Natalia Grygierczyk (Advisor), Margreet Nieborg (University of Groningen Press), Nienke van Schaverbeke (TU Delft Open Publishing), Jan Willem Wijnen (Openjournals)

3. Monitoring System for DOA

This project focuses on developing an evaluation procedure to measure quantitative and qualitative developments in Diamond Open Access in the Netherlands, based on a baseline assessment of:

  • Dutch DOA journals,
  • publications by Dutch researchers in DOA journals, and
  • books or book chapters by Dutch researchers with DOA publishers..

Project lead: Chiara Livio
Team Members: Pascal Braak (University of Amsterdam Library) and Bianca Kramer (Sesame Open Science)

Further Information

Program and project documents, including posters and presentations, are available on Zenodo.