Global Summit on Diamond Open Access: Advancing Equitable Scholarly Communication
From 23 to 27 October 2023, the Global Summit on Diamond Open Access was held in Toluca, Mexico, as part of International Open Access Week 2023, uniting under the theme "Community over Commercialization." The event brought together 260 participants in prensence and 422 online from 75 countries and 457 institutions, who engaged in discussions covering topics such as research infrastructure, policy, governance, sustainability, and the reform of research assessment.
Under the motto "Science as a Public Good," the summit highlighted the significance of Open Access to knowledge, emphasising Diamond as the model that can make Open Access (OA) fair and equitable to all, by providing research articles and books without fees for authors or readers, fostering the dissemination of research without barriers. This approach also promotes bibliodiversity, multilingualism, and equality in accessing and contributing to scientific knowledge.
The summit called for a shift in the traditional publishing model, acknowledging the unsustainable nature of the existing publisher business models based on subscriptions or Article Publishing Charges (APCs) and the drawbacks of the "publish and perish" system. The focus was on preserving research quality, information, knowledge, and infrastructure by embracing Open Science.
The importance of global collaboration, coalitions, and a federated approach to transitioning from traditional publication models to Diamond OA was emphasised, recognizing the unique challenges faced by different institutions, regions, nations, and scientific fields. The common vision of "science as a public good" aimed to unite the community and facilitate collaborative efforts to prioritise quality over quantity, ensuring the production, visibility, and interoperability of scientific research.
Leading organisations like OpenAIRE and COAR stressed the importance of working alongside Green OA (repositories and CRIS) to ensure the sustainability and innovation of publishing models.
Green and Diamond OA communities should work together as we share the same goals and vision. During the summit several voices stressed the importance of repositories, connected with journals, platforms and peer review services, for a real diverse, sustainable and innovative ecosystem
Eloy Rodrigues, Chair of OpenAIRE Open Science Strategies Standing Committee
The summit's concluding statement, "Conclusion and Way Forward," reinforced commitment to equitable and free access to scholarly communication. Diamond OA serves as a pathway to achieving fair access to scholarly publishing and reading, prioritising content quality over the publication platform. It values and acknowledges all participants in the publishing process. Moreover, Diamond OA journals, repositories, and platforms exemplify community-driven, academic-led, and academically owned publishing initiatives. This model is dedicated to fostering a diverse and equitable society, where high-quality scholarly knowledge is a shared public asset.
The Global Diamond OA Summit highlighted the community's commitment to openness and innovation in Scholarly Communication, with a shared motivation among infrastructure and funding stakeholders. The emphasis on open and non-commercial infrastructures, including the OpenAIRE Graph, is promising for Diamond OA and broader Responsible Research Assessment. However, the adoption of these practices varies across countries and research domains. I eagerly await further developments in Diamond OA.
Giulia Malaguarnera, Outreach and Engagement Officer at OpenAIRE
Further Reading:
1. Conclusion and Way Forward of the Global Summit on Diamond Open Access
2. The Principles for Diamond Open Access Publishing
3. Ancion, Z., Borrell-Damián, L., Mounier, P., Rooryck, J., & Saenen, B. (2022). Action Plan for Diamond Open Access. Zenodo
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