Background on Diamond Open Access
Diamond Open Access represents a scholarly publishing model in which journals and platforms charge no fees to authors for publication or to readers for access. This approach emphasizes community governance and positions scientific knowledge as a public good. Unlike other open access models that rely on article processing charges, Diamond Open Access seeks to eliminate financial barriers entirely while maintaining quality through editorial standards and peer review.
In the Indian higher education context, many university-affiliated and society-run journals already operate on principles aligned with this model. However, challenges persist around visibility, technical infrastructure, and long-term sustainability for these community-led publications.
The 3rd Global Summit on Diamond Open Access
The 3rd Global Summit on Diamond Open Access took place in Bengaluru, Karnataka, from 2 to 6 February 2026. The event gathered 347 participants from 36 countries, including librarians, publishers, researchers, policymakers, and open access advocates. Hosted under the theme of collaboration for equitable digital infrastructures and knowledge commons, particularly in agriculture and broader scientific research systems, the summit built on previous gatherings in Toluca in 2023 and Cape Town in 2024.
Indian institutions and professionals played a prominent role, with discussions highlighting opportunities for aligning national efforts with global standards. The summit featured workshops, plenaries, and thematic tracks focused on practical steps for strengthening Diamond Open Access journals.
Launch of the Bengaluru Roadmap
The summit culminated in the adoption of the Bengaluru Roadmap and Action Plan on Diamond Open Access. This outcome document, available via Zenodo with DOI 10.5281/zenodo.20168763, provides a shared global framework developed through a collective process led by the International Oversight Committee. It addresses governments, research funding organizations, universities, evaluation bodies, and scholarly communities.
The roadmap sets out a flexible framework adaptable across national, regional, disciplinary, and institutional contexts. Its implementation will be reviewed at the next global summit scheduled for Bali, Indonesia, in December 2026.
Six Priority Action Areas
The Bengaluru Roadmap outlines six interconnected priority action areas to advance equitable scholarly communication:
- Integrating Diamond Open Access into national policy and legal frameworks to provide structural support for community-led models.
- Redirecting publishing expenditure toward community-governed infrastructures that prioritize sustainability over commercial interests.
- Reforming research evaluation systems to recognize Diamond Open Access publications, multilingual scholarship, and community-governed venues alongside traditional metrics.
- Strengthening shared infrastructure and interoperability to enhance discoverability and collaboration across platforms.
- Recognizing and supporting the human labour behind scholarly communication, including editorial and technical roles often performed on a voluntary or under-resourced basis.
- Promoting linguistic diversity and marginalised knowledge systems to ensure research reaches broader audiences in local languages.
Relevance to Indian Universities and Colleges
For Indian higher education institutions, the roadmap offers practical guidance on supporting Diamond Open Access journals hosted or affiliated with universities. Many such journals face visibility challenges despite operating without author fees. Aligning with the roadmap could involve policy updates at the institutional level to value these publications in promotion and tenure processes.
Universities can contribute by investing in shared infrastructure, capacity building for editors, and initiatives that promote multilingual research outputs. This aligns with broader goals of equitable knowledge dissemination within India's diverse academic landscape.
Challenges and Opportunities in the Indian Context
Indian Diamond Open Access journals often encounter issues related to metadata standards, indexing in major databases, and technical sustainability. The summit discussions emphasized the need for collaborative efforts among institutions, libraries, and policymakers to address these gaps.
Opportunities include leveraging platforms that support Diamond models to improve global reach. Indian academic communities can benefit from capacity-building programs and partnerships that strengthen editorial quality and discoverability while preserving regional and linguistic diversity in scholarship.
Stakeholder Perspectives
Reflections from participants, including Indian librarians and open access advocates, underscore the event's value in fostering connections and sharing practical strategies. Emphasis was placed on the movement toward inclusive knowledge sharing rather than viewing Diamond Open Access solely as a publishing format.
University administrators and researchers highlighted the potential for policy alignment that supports community-driven journals, ensuring that Indian scholarship contributes meaningfully to global knowledge commons without financial barriers.
Implications for Research Evaluation and Policy
Reforming evaluation systems stands as a key pillar of the roadmap. Indian universities may consider how to integrate recognition of Diamond Open Access outputs into their assessment frameworks. This could encourage greater participation in community-governed publishing while maintaining rigorous standards.
National-level discussions around open access policies could draw on the roadmap's recommendations to create supportive legal and funding environments for these models.
Photo by Animesh Sahoo on Unsplash
Future Outlook and Next Steps
The Bengaluru Roadmap provides a coordinated vision for transitioning scholarly communication toward more equitable practices. For Indian higher education, adoption of its principles could enhance the sustainability and impact of university-linked journals.
With the next summit in Bali approaching, stakeholders in India have an opportunity to contribute to regional action plans and monitor progress on the six priority areas. Continued collaboration among universities, libraries, and research bodies will be essential for realizing the roadmap's goals.
Actionable Insights for Institutions
Indian colleges and universities can begin by auditing their current publishing practices and identifying Diamond-aligned journals. Steps include participating in global networks, investing in training for editorial teams, and advocating for evaluation reforms that value diverse publishing venues.
These efforts support broader objectives of making research accessible and relevant to society, particularly in local languages and contexts.
