21/01/2025
The European Diamond Capacity Hub (EDCH), a pioneering initiative to advance Diamond Open Access publishing across Europe, was officially launched on 15th January 2025, in Madrid. OPERAS, the research infrastructure for open scholarly communication in the social sciences and humanities, will serve as the fiscal host of the European Diamond Capacity Hub.
Diamond OA is an equitable model of scholarly publication that charges no fees to authors or readers and in which the content-related elements of publication are owned and controlled by the scholarly communities. The EDCH will support this model by providing six essential services to publishing service providers, and technology providers:
“The EDCH is a collective initiative”, stated Pierre Mounier, co-coordinator (Community) of OPERAS and co-coordinator of the EDCH. “It aims to establish an aligned, equitable, high-quality, and sustainable Diamond OA publishing infrastructure, led by the scholarly communities, and without fees for readers or authors”.
Johan Rooryck, Executive Director at cOAlition S and co-coordinator of the EDCH, compared Diamond Open Access infrastructure to a public basketball court. “Just as courts provide a free space where everyone can play under shared rules, Diamond OA infrastructure allows journal and book editors to publish their work at no cost to themselves, under the Diamond OA standard. Every Diamond OA output is like a recorded game, preserved for others to watch and learn from – making knowledge truly accessible to all”, he noted.
The launch event, hosted by the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT) at the Museo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (MUNCYT), featured both public and internal sessions. At the public part representatives from the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR), the European Commission and UNESCO, offered diverse perspectives on Diamond Open Access (OA). National funders from Germany, Spain, Austria and Portugal shared insights as well, providing a comprehensive overview of the current state of Diamond OA. At the internal segment of the launch event, key services of the EDCH and opportunities for active participation and collaboration in task forces were presented.
Working alongside other regional capacity hubs, such as Redalyc-Amelica and African Journals Online (AJOL), the EDCH will serve as Europe’s gateway to the global Diamond OA community. This initiative is supported by organisations committed to advancing Diamond OA publishing in Europe.
The establishment of the EDCH addresses the need for capacity building in the Diamond OA community, as expressed in the Action Plan for Diamond OA. It reflects a growing political support for Diamond OA, highlighted by the Council of the European Union’s conclusions in May 2023, which advocate for ‘high-quality, transparent, open, trustworthy, and equitable scholarly publishing.’ Additionally, the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science from November 2021 underscores a global consensus towards Open Science practices.
The initial components of the EDCH were developed within the frameworks of the EC-funded CRAFT-OA and DIAMAS projects. The EDCH has received initial financial support from the French National Research Agency (ANR) and the CNRS. By serving as the fiscal host of the EDCH, OPERAS continues its mission to promote open scholarly communication and equitable publishing models across the European Research Area.
The launch of the EDCH coincided with the announcement of the EU-funded ALMASI Project, a three-year initiative involving 15 partners from Africa, Latin America, and Europe. ALMASI aims to develop a nonprofit, high-quality, and sustainable scholarly communication ecosystem by understanding the current landscape of nonprofit OA publishing in these regions and co-designing measures for quality standards, training resources, and policy development.
For more information please visit the website of the European Diamond Capacity Hub. The full recording of the public part of the EDCH launch is available on YouTube.
Source: European Diamond Capacity Hub Launched to Strengthen Diamond Open Access Publishing in Europe