Europe’s Diamond OA Plan

In 2022, Science Europe published the Diamond Open Access Action Plan, a strategic roadmap for strengthening non-commercial scholarly publishing across Europe. 

The Action Plan defines four key priorities:

• Sustainable funding models
• Shared standards and quality frameworks
• Interoperable technical infrastructure
• Long-term institutional support

From Strategy to Implementation

The EU-funded projects DIAMAS (2022-2025) and CRAFT-OA (2023-2025) translated the Action Plan into operational frameworks and practical tools.

Their work focused on:

• Developing common quality standards and best practices
• Strengthening technical tools and interoperability
• Providing shared services for Diamond OA publishers
• Improving discoverability and visibility

These projects created the structural and technical groundwork for a sustainable European Diamond OA ecosystem.

A permanent European infrastructure

Building on these results (DIAMAS and CRAFT-OA), the European Diamond Capacity Hub (EDCH) was established as a long-term coordination and service structure for Diamond Open Access in Europe.

The EDCH provides:

• Shared standards and governance frameworks
• Technical services (e.g. the discovery tool Diamond Discovery Hub)
• Capacity-building and support services for publishers and service providers

It ensures that project-based results are transformed into a durable European infrastructure.

National integration: DOACH

On a national, Swiss level DOACH serves as the national capacity centre within the EDCH network.

International diamond ecosystem

The ALMASI-project (Aligning and Mutualizing Nonprofit Open Access Publishing Services Internationally) strengthens non-profit Open Access publishing across Africa, Latin America, and Europe. It aims to build an aligned, high-quality, and sustainable scholarly communication ecosystem, supporting Diamond Open Access across the three continents.

European publishing platform: Open Research Europe

With Open Research Europe (ORE), the European Commission provides a solid Diamond OA publishing platform.

Key features:

• No fees for authors or readers
• Transparent and rapid peer review
• High visibility for EU-funded research
• Scalable model for funder-led publishing

Building on these results, the European Diamond Capacity Hub (EDCH) was established as a long-term coordination and service structure for Diamond Open Access in Europe.

The EDCH consolidates:

• Shared standards and governance frameworks
• Technical infrastructures (including services such as the Diamond Discovery Hub)
• Capacity-building and support services for publishers and service providers

It ensures that project-based results are transformed into a durable European infrastructure.