Creating Collaborative Spaces in the Open – Establishing a Nordic Capacity Centre for Diamond Open Access

Abstract

Since the start of the DIAMAS project (https://diamasproject.eu/) in 2022, there has been a focus on equity in Open Access (OA) scholarly publishing beyond agreements with legacy publishers. In addition, cOAlition S started a working group with funders, librarians, and publishers to discuss possible models that could contribute to a shift to OA beyond article-based charges. Non-profit and community-led journals, which have long awaited these initiatives, need support, such as adapting to policy recommendations while sustainably maintaining the same editorial quality.

A recent landscape study by Mikael Laakso (Study of the Nordic SSH Journal Publishing Landscape: A Report for the Nordic Publications Committee for Humanities and Social Science Periodicals (NOP-HS), 2021) concluded that there are 325 active Nordic journals currently on the market, of which 6.5% operate with an APC. Almost half of the Nordic journals also accept contributions in languages other than English. Denmark, Finland, Iceland, and Sweden have established national infrastructures for journal publishing alongside several institutional platforms. Norway does not rely on a national node but has created several institutional platforms for societies and editors who need a digital home for their journals. The study about Nordic journals concludes that many of them are supported only by temporary grants or in-kind contributions from institutions, which means that they will likely need more financial support to develop their practices or updates to live up to various OA policies. With the current scene as a backdrop, it is relevant for stakeholders to consider new ways of supporting. Offering fundamental support for a complete shift to OA means that support from various stakeholders is crucial in ensuring that these publishing outlets are following necessary policies and recommendations and remain relevant for researchers to read and publish with them. 

This workshop explores the opportunities and challenges of community-driven and scholar-led open publishing to ensure that a Nordic Capacity Centre for Diamond Open Access provides relevant backing for its stakeholders.