Some years agoI wrote that open access is inevitability. And in many ways, the data supports that view, at least one glance.
Open gold access, the model where the authors (or their financiers) pay the processing positions of articles to make the work available for free, has constantly grown during the last decade. But if you look closely, growth is slowing down. And what is occupying its place is not the altruistic and community model that many expected. Instead, open hybrid access is filling the void: a model where magazines with payment walls charge extra to make the selected items open.
Diamond Open Access, where the publication is free for authors and readers, backed by institutions instead of APC, has been in the holders. But here is the uncomfortable truth: we still don’t have enough data to know if Diamond or is really growing or is simply spoken.
A system stuck in the middle
Excavating in the data in layers on Openalex, a clear pattern arises. Oa’s gold impulse is slowing down. But instead of the researchers resort to OA Green (self -archering in repositories) or OA of diamonds, many are choosing or hybrid.
Because?
Because researchers pursue visibility, reputation and prestige. That often means publishing in high -impact magazines, many of which are owned by inherited editors that now offer hybrid models. These options give the authors a way to fulfill financial mandates without sacrificing perceived academic influence.
Meanwhile, institutions and libraries are under pressure to show open access progress. The hybrid OA, although face, is a politically safe way to do so. It is the administrative equivalent of verifying a box, even if that means paying twice.
Transforming agreements such as reading and publication agreements have only accelerated this trend, redirecting subscription budgets to cover OA rates, effectively normalizing the hybrid publication in many disciplines.
A new vision arises
But while the hybrid tide rises, a quiet revolution is underway.
In 2022, a coalition of organizations (Cience Europe, Coalition S, Opas and ANR) launched a bold action plan to support Diamond OA. Its objective: build a truly equitable editorial ecosystem, driven by the community, where knowledge is a public good and costs are collectively appeared, not by individual researchers.
This vision took shape through the DIAMAS project and culminated in the creation of the Diamond OA standard (DOAS). Think of the DOA as a plan: a framework to help diamond magazines to measure, improve and maintain quality.
It is built in seven pillars:
- Legal property, mission and governance
- Open Science Practices
- Editorial Management and Research Integrity
- Technical Service efficiency
- Visibility and impact
- Equity, diversity, inclusion and multilingualism
- Continuous improvement
Together, these components aim to professionalize the OA of diamonds without compromising their values. They send a clear message: if academic communication is a public good, then it must be formed and governed by the academic community itself.
The lost link: measurable growth
Despite this impulse, the numbers tell a more high story.
The first data from OpenExex paint the image that Diamond OA has stagnated in terms of publication volume. Enthusiasm and infrastructure have grown, but the data does not reflect this.
Why disconnection? Part of the problem is visibility. In Digital Science, we would love a better way to track the open access growth of diamonds. Doaj lists 1,369 magazines such as “Without Rates”But there seems to be many edge cases that result in a landscape that is not black and white.
It is also true that many diamond magazines operate with limited marketing, uncertain technical infrastructure and fragmented funds. And despite the ideals, many researchers still do not see them as viable options for professional progress.
What comes next?
There are reasons for optimism. He Diama project It is not just advocating Diamond OA, it is building the scaffolding. Its service portal offers templates, best practices and technical orientation to help magazines align with DOA standards and professionalize their operations. He European Diamond Capacity Center (EDCH) serves as a coordination center for stakeholders of Diamond OA in Europe. Launched together with the EDCh, the Almasi project It focuses on understanding the publication of OA non -profit in Africa, Latin America and Europe.
The pieces are in place for equitable open access solutions. What is needed is adoption and quantification. The financiers and institutions must include OA equitable in their promotion criteria. Researchers must see it as a credible home for their work. If anyone knows in faster ways to obtain clean data for Diamond, communicate.
The way forward exists. But like any way, it is only clear when walking it. If you are working in this space and have these data, we would love to spread them through our tools in Digital Science.
#gold #diamond #open #access #mirage
