‘Diamond’ Open Access refers to a scholarly publication model in which journals and platforms do not
charge fees to either authors or readers.
Diamond
Open Access journals represent community-driven,
academic-led and -owned publishing initiatives.
Serving a fine-grained variety of generally small-scale,
multilingual, and multicultural scholarly communities,
these journals and platforms embody the concept of
bibliodiversity. For all these reasons, Diamond Open
Access journals and platforms are equitable by nature
and design.
The landmark ‘Open Access Diamond Journals Study’
(OADJS) uncovered the vast size and scope of this
publication ecosystem. The estimated (2021) 17.000 to
29.000 Diamond Open Access journals worldwide are
an essential component of scholarly communication,
publishing 8 to 9% of the total article publication
volume and 45% of Open Access publishing.
Diamond open access texts are those that are published/distributed without charge to the reader or the author.
Diamond Open Access journals are normally community -driven by groups of academics on their own initiatives. They tend to be small scale and often cross-cultural boundaries, and many have equity as a founding principle.
The Diamond model has been particularly successful in Latin America, with 25% of DOAJ OA journals appearing there.
In 2021 it was estimated that there were 17000-29000 Diamond OA journals worldwide.