Diamond Open Access

Dear Colleagues,

Diamond open access refers to journals that do not charge any fees for authors or readers. More ambitious interpretations include characteristics such as operating on a non-commercial basis or using licenses that exclude the commercial utilization of published content. Although journals offering free access without charges have existed for three to four decades and have become an alternative publishing model in some parts of the world, there is a renewed mainstream interest in such journals that has been triggered by science policy. This interest may stem from the limitations and shortcomings of other open access (OA) publishing models, particularly those based on article processing charges (APC) or publish-and-read (PAR) fees. While the OA transformation was accompanied by high hopes for cost reduction, many were disappointed by the lack thereof, leading to a search for alternatives. Despite the high relevance of diamond OA, relatively limited research has been conducted on this topic. However, this situation appears to be changing, as a number of research projects now focus on the topic following science policy initiatives.

Diamond open access journals have unique features that make them a fascinating topic to study. First, these journals are heterogeneous and employ different strategies to mobilize resources to sustain their operations. Sources include both voluntary labour and monetary resources acquired in a myriad of ways. Second, the composition of actors differs from commercial journals, where the journal titles are owned by publishing houses or published by them on behalf of an institute or a scientific society. In the case of diamond OA journals, a large diversity of settings can be observed, such as journals solely operated by a group of scientists, collaborations between scientists and libraries, or collaborations between scientists and publishers (as in the subscribe-to-open model). Third, the relevance of diamond OA journals in science policy discussions varies. In Latin America, the model was introduced and popularized early on; meanwhile, European and North American countries began implementing diamond OA relatively late, and in some countries, diamond OA journals are virtually absent. This diversity indicates that the framework conditions set by science policy differ on the global level, resulting in mixed results and achievements of the model.

Aim

Against the backdrop of the information introduced above regarding diamond OA, the aim of this Special Issue is to collect contributions that analyse diamond OA publishing models from all perspectives. It seeks to contribute to our understanding of the operation of such journals, explore their strengths and weaknesses, and assess their potential in different disciplines or country-specific settings. Contributions from all countries worldwide are welcome.

Possible Contributions

Possible contributions may include, but are not limited to, the following topics:

• Theoretical works on the conceptualization of diamond OA;
• Analysis of the relevance of diamond OA in science policies in different countries (as well as on the supranational level);
• Studies of the operation of diamond OA journals, particularly the interplay of voluntary and paid work;
• Investigations of the cooperation between scientists and providers of digital infrastructures for diamond OA journals;
• Exploration of the current role and future potential of diamond OA journals in the publishing landscape and in the OA transformation;
• Cross-country comparisons about the relevance and role of diamond OA journals.

Contributions may be theoretical or empirical and may apply quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods approaches.

Timeline

• Abstract submission deadline: 10 June 2024
• Full paper submission deadline: 10 October 2024

Terms and Conditions

All submissions to the Special Issue on Diamond Open Access will be subject to peer review.

Publications is an international, peer-reviewed, open access journal on scholarly publishing, published quarterly online by MDPI. It is indexed within Scopus, ESCI (Web of Science), RePEc, dblp, and other databases. Its Web of Science journal impact factor is 3.8.

Dr. Niels Taubert
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Publications is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• open access
• diamond open access
• diamond open access journals
• article processing charge
• publishing models