UNESCO publishes global consultation on Diamond Open Access

UNESCO has recently released the results of a comprehensive global consultation on Diamond Open Access, a scholarly publishing model that promotes equity and inclusion in academic communication. The study, conducted between September 2024 and January 2025, gathered nearly 2,900 responses from experts across 90 countries, offering an unprecedented perspective on the challenges and opportunities of this model.

Diamond Open Access stands out as a community-led publishing model where neither authors nor readers pay fees. Instead, it is supported by public institutions and non-profit entities, fostering truly accessible and equitable scientific communication. Unlike other open access models, the Diamond model does not rely on funding from researchers themselves, removing economic barriers that often exclude academics from resource-constrained contexts.

The consultation results reveal significant support for the Diamond open access model, aligned with principles of equity, inclusion, multilingualism, and the public good. However, the report identifies substantial obstacles hindering the advancement of this approach, such as limited funding, lack of recognition of Diamond model outputs in academic evaluation systems, technical and capacity constraints, low awareness, and structural exclusion resulting from models that favour established institutions.

The consultation identified clear priorities for a global framework supporting the Diamond model. Participants emphasised the importance of a model that is voluntary, modular, values-based, and characterised by decentralised governance. The proposed core principles include: equity and inclusion, transparent and flexible quality standards, sustainable public infrastructure led by communities, inclusive eligibility (mission-aligned, excluding commercial entities), and regionally grounded governance with UNESCO support.

Pathways for Advancement

The report outlines five strategic pathways to strengthen Diamond Open Access:

• Develop supportive policy frameworks, aligned with global agendas.
• Strengthen institutional capacity through infrastructure and training.
• Promote regional leadership and cooperation.
• Share promising practices and adaptable models.
• Establish voluntary monitoring tools, tailored to regional needs.

The report is particularly relevant to the University of Coimbra, which has been investing in open publishing practices and the Diamond model for several years, with its scientific journals having been included in the newly launched Diamond Discovery Hub, an initiative linked to the European Diamond Capacity Hub. Furthermore, multilingualism is highlighted as a fundamental principle for advancing equity and inclusion in scholarly communication. This principle has been one of the important pillars at UC in its actions within the OPERAS consortium, including the launch of the collaborative translation support service, MONDAECUS.