EASE webinar: Enhancing the Quality of Open Access Scholarly Publishing

Tuesday, 19 November 2024 at 2pm (UK time)

The scholarly publishing landscape is experiencing a significant transformation, with a notable shift towards open access and a growing consolidation of power within the scholarly journal market. By 2022, just five major publishers captured 61% of the article market. This trend continued into 2023, with the top ten controlling 75% and the top twenty responsible for 83% of published works (Crotty, 2023).  Concurrently, research has highlighted various scholar-led open access journals, often published by universities, faculties, research institutes, and scholarly societies. Despite publishing fewer articles than their larger counterparts, the estimated 29,000 journals operating under the diamond open access model—allowing publication without fees for authors and readers—play a crucial role in the scholarly publishing ecosystem. Our mission is to enhance these invaluable resources’ visibility, publishing practices, and overall quality.

As the costs of publishing open access articles (APCs) continue to rise, the diamond model stands out as one of the fairest publishing approaches, seamlessly aligned with the principles of open science. This model ensures that ownership and control of research outputs remain firmly in the hands of the academic and scientific community. However, these journals face significant challenges, including limited financial support, reliance on volunteer efforts, lack of visibility and indexing, and the need for swift adaptation in a rapidly changing publishing landscape. Various initiatives are committed to overcoming these obstacles by developing collaborative and adaptable quality standards tailored for diamond journals.

This webinar shared key findings from the DIAMAS analysis of best practices in open access scholarly publishing. Furthermore, we explored the Diamond Open Access Standard (DOAS), formerly known as the EQSIP, and discussed its seven pivotal components: Funding, Legal Ownership and Governance, Alignment with Open Science Principles, Editorial Quality, Technical Services, Visibility and Impact, and Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging (EDIB). Aligning with best publishing practices and standards will strengthen publishers’ and editors’ competencies and improve the quality of their journals.

Price £25
EASE members – login to view the recording for free.