Diamond Open Access
Diamond Open Access refers to publication models in which neither reading nor publishing fees are charged. The publication infrastructures are often supported by public institutions and are often science-led.
Source: based on Oberländer, A. (2020). Open Access – Es ist nicht alles Gold, was glänzt. In: Open Science. Von Daten zu Publikationen. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4018594 (CC BY 4.0 International)
Diamond Open Access and Science-Led Publishing
Publication models in which neither reading nor publishing fees are charged are referred to as diamond open access. Since the focus here is on the primary publication of scientific publications, diamond open access is strictly speaking a specific form of the golden route of open access.
Diamond open access also places the question of the autonomy of science in the spotlight. In practice, diamond open access is often associated with the aspiration and the goal that publishing and the publication outlets are in the hands of the scientific community. Essentially, this means that the publication processes, decisions and content are controlled and governed by scientists and that the underlying publication infrastructures are supported by publicly funded scientific institutions. This is the case with many diamond open access publication models. However, there are also publication models and publication outlets without fees for reading and publishing that are based on other business and financing models and are supported by market and profit-oriented players, such as traditional commercial publishers. For this reason, there is no common definition of the term diamond open access beyond the minimal definition of the absence of fees for reading and publishing; instead, there are different interpretations, particularly with regard to the aspects of financing, profit orientation and ownership.
With science-led publishing there are also various conceptual understandings that emphasize different organizational structures and aspirations, usually with labels such as “scholar-led”, “community-driven” or “academic-owned”. What these different forms and emphases have in common is the focus on a scholarly publishing system that is primarily organized and governed by academic stakeholders. This is usually accompanied by the goal of being independent from profit-oriented commercial publication logics and actors – and thus ultimately also the goal of autonomy of science in publishing.
Diamond Open Access at Helmholtz
There are various diamond open access activities within the Helmholtz Association. These generally involve the promotion of science-led publication models and publicly funded publication infrastructures.
Diamond Open Access beyond Helmholtz
Many other diamond open access activities and projects are relevant to the developments and members of the Helmholtz Association.