Thirty people with expertise in institutional publishing sought to help develop guidelines on open-access model
The European University Association is seeking participants for a focus group on the ‘diamond’ model of open-access scholarly publishing.
While all open-access papers are free for readers, diamond open-access publishing also imposes no fee on authors. Instead, funding is often provided by organisations or institutions on an annual or multi-year basis, or for the publication of an agreed total number of articles. This is widely seen as a more equitable model than charging authors.
In an email sent out to the sector on 15 January, the European University Association, which represents over 800 universities, said the planned focus group will bring together people from education and research to “seek to address the challenges of transitioning to diamond open access at institutional level”.
The group, called Co-designing Diamond OA recommendations and guidelines for institutional leaders, will be made up of about 30 people, including representatives of publishing organisations and libraries. Their input will help inform a set of policy recommendations and guidelines, which the EU-funded Diamas project, focused on the development of diamond open access, is set to publish in February 2025.
The focus group will meet online on 13 March, with participants selected based on their experience and expertise in institutional publishing activities. Application forms and further information can be found on the EUA’s website.