OA Diamond Journals Study
Part 1: Findings
By Jeroen Bosman (Utrecht University), Jan Erik Frantsvåg (UIT); Bianca Kramer (Utrecht University); Pierre-Carl Langlais (OPERAS); Vanessa Proudman (SPARC Europe) in article
Abstract
From June 2020 to February 2021, a consortium of 10 organisations undertook a large-scale study on open access journals across the world that are free for readers and authors, usually referred to as “OA diamond journals”. This study was commissioned by cOAlition S in order to gain a better understanding of the OA diamond landscape.
Date
March 9, 2021
Time
12:00 AM
Location
Zenodo
From June 2020 to February 2021, a consortium of 10 organisations undertook a large-scale study on open access journals across the world that are free for readers and authors, usually referred to as “OA diamond journals”. This study was commissioned by cOAlition S in order to gain a better understanding of the OA diamond landscape.
The study undertook a statistical analysis of several bibliographic databases, surveyed 1,619 journals, collected 7,019 free text submissions and other data from 94 questions, and organised three focus groups with 11 journals and 10 interviews with hosting platforms. It collected 163 references in the academic literature, and inventoried 1048 journals not listed in DOAJ.
Findings:
- A wide archipelago of relatively small journals serving diverse communities
- OA diamond journals are on the road to full compliance with Plan S
- A mix of scientific strengths and operational challenges
- An economy that largely depends on volunteers, universities and government