Open Access (OA) publishing has become an important aspect of academic publishing and many researchers are familiar with three varieties of it: Green OA, Gold OA, and hybrid OA. As a refresher, Green OA describes self-archiving of a publication on an institutional repository, such as DORA. Often, this is done for the accepted version of a manuscript (see also here: Green Open Access | Lib4RI). In contrast, Gold OA is the case when the published, journal-edited version of a manuscript is directly released as OA to the public under an open license. Typically, authors enable this by paying the article processing charge (APC). Hybrid OA is the case for journals that are financed by a combination of APCs and subscription fees.
These pathways to OA have been successful in improving the access to publications. For example, up to 90% of journal articles published by researchers at the four research institutes in recent years are OA. However, the commercial publishing industry has fully embraced OA publishing and benefits from high fees for Gold OA articles and Read & Publishing Agreements. The profits made by for-profit publishers from these fees are not necessarily re-invested to develop scholarly publishing but go instead to external stakeholders. In parallel, the publication industry underwent a concentration process with big publishers publishing an increasing share of the number of published articles. This gives a few for-profit publishers even more power and control over the work of scientists. Diamond OA (sometimes also called Platinum OA) attempts to address some of these developments.
Diamond OA is a model of scholarly publication that charges no fees to authors, readers, or their institutions; Diamond OA journals are owned and controlled by the scholarly communities (see here for a detailed definition). This model of scholarly publication is made possible by subsidies from third parties, such as funding agencies, consortia, research institutions or their libraries. Diamond OA is not a new or alternative model of scholarly publishing. It is the way scientists have published for the longest time in the history of science. As a community-driven model, Diamond OA prioritizes the research community's needs over commercial interests. Reclaiming the ownership of scholarly publishing leads to more reasonable and stable pricing structures that align with community values.
The landscape of Diamond OA journals consists of a wide range of relatively small journals serving diverse communities. An extensive study of Diamond journals estimated that there are between 17’000 and 29’000 Diamond OA journals worldwide, which account for 8-9% of scholarly articles produced. Starting mid-2025, the Diamond Discovery Hub will provide a comprehensive registry of institutionally published and scholar-led OA Journals. If you are interested in exploring Diamond OA journals right now, you can use the Directory of Open Access Journals. To locate them in the database, refine your search results to journals ‘without fees’. Be aware that this search strategy will result in many journals not owned by not-for-profit organizations and, thus, do not comply with an important criterion of Diamond OA. In fact, a temporary waiver of APCs (thereby making the journal Diamond OA) is a common marketing strategy by for-profit publishers. If you are interested in “local” Diamond journals, have a look at the list of journals established as part of the PLATO project. Lib4RI supports community-led, non-profit initiatives that offer an alternative to for-profit publishers. Our support extends to Diamond OA journals and platforms, including:
For more information about Open Access publishing, check out our website, use our Search Tool to see if there is support publishing OA in your journal of choice, or reach out to us at openaccess[at]lib4ri.ch.
