In June 2024, the swissuniversities co-funded projects “PLATO – Platinum Open Access Funding” and “GOAL – Unlocking the Green Open Access Potential” joined forces to organise the webinar “When Green Open Access Meets Diamond Open Access”. The aim was to explore the opportunities and synergies that can arise when Green and Diamond Open Access are seen as complementary rather than competing models. In this blog post, we present a summary of the discussions during the webinar and seek to open avenues for further debate on sustainable and affordable Open Access publishing in Switzerland.

In recent years, the quest for more equitable, affordable, and sustainable ways for scholarly open access publishing has become central, as highlighted by the “Council Conclusions on High-Quality, Transparent, Open, Trustworthy, and Equitable Scholarly Publishing” issued by the EU Science Ministries in May 2023. Both the self-archiving of publications in institutional repositories (Green Open Access) and scholar-led or community-driven open access publishing without fees for authors and readers (Diamond Open Access) offer opportunities for the transformation towards better Open Access. However, the question of how these two Open Access models can create synergies in terms of bibliodiversity, visibility and cost-effectiveness has not yet been the focus of discussion.

The webinar, which was hosted by swissuniversities and moderated by Thomas Leibundgut (Co-Coordinator Open Science, swissuniversities), aimed to demonstrate that exploring complementarity can pay off in this quest for sustainability and affordability in open access publishing. Attended by around 90 participants, most of them employees at academic libraries, the event coincided with the publication of the revised National Open Access Strategy in Switzerland that places emphasis on sustainability and bibliodiversity. It can thus be said that it captured the interest of the community.

The first part of the webinar focused on the different perceptions and associations connected to both Green Open Access and Diamond Open Access as well as the potential synergies that could arise from combining their strengths. In order to facilitate a discussion and bring together the experiences of both projects with the interests and views of the participants, we used Mentimeter questions to inquire about participant perceptions of the Green and Diamond open access routes. Both were seen as services provided and/or supported by institutions and inherently dependent on the collaboration and engagement of researchers. These similarities, however, do not overshadow the differences: For participants, Green Open Access was mainly associated with questions regarding embargoes, accessibility, rights retention strategy and authors’ rights, while associations with Diamond Open Access included “free”, “underfunded”, “researcher-led” and “independent”.

Broader Accessibility and Policy Compliance

Both models naturally rely on academic institutions, as they are fundamentally designed to serve the academic community. However, it is the other similarity – the need for researchers’ commitment – that proves to be of greater significance. In both models, researchers are seen to be the cornerstone of the publishing system, and any attempt to make Green and Diamond Open Access truly successful beyond their current state must therefore ensure that researchers can exercise the rights they have on their manuscripts or take part in scholar-led publishing initiatives.

The differing perceptions of Green and Diamond Open Access reveal that, despite their apparent differences, there are also compelling reasons for a combination between both models and unlocking potential synergies. For instance, both models share concerns about accessibility, rights retention, and the removal of financial barriers in open access publishing. Thus, by providing parallel infrastructural support to both Green and Diamond Open Access, authors can meet funders’ open access mandates while avoiding publication fees.

Furthermore, joint advocacy efforts by supporters of both Green and Diamond Open Access can strengthen the push for policies that support more equitable and affordable access to research outputs. In terms of accessibility, both Green and Diamond Open Access also provide multiple access points for researchers, practitioners, and the public, thereby increasing the overall dissemination and impact of scholarly publications. Diamond Open Access journals can further make use of Green Open Access repositories in a number of ways: for long-term archiving purposes, but also to maximise the visibility and reach of published research. Linking research outputs – both pre-print and post-print – and making them available in an interoperable network of infrastructures and services (e.g. open peer review, overlay journals) could therefore accelerate the transformation of Open Access by reducing barriers to access and enabling the integration of research across different disciplines.

In the second part of the webinar, participants were asked what infrastructure was needed to support Green and Diamond Open Access. The question of how Green and Diamond Open Access can complement each other in terms of infrastructure is particularly relevant for higher education and other research-intensive institutions. Most institutions maintain article repositories but may also support Diamond Open Access publishing by employing researcher-editors and providing hosting solutions and/or grants for journal. Academic libraries already provide publication infrastructures, publishing, and long-term archiving services, which should be expanded and networked to maximise the accessibility and visibility of research outputs by integrating Green and Diamond Open Access capacities.

The responses showed that a majority advocates for national infrastructures, both for a National Green Open Access repository and a National Diamond Open Access platform for journals and books. Throughout the discussion, it became clear that national infrastructures are seen as a way to boost visibility as well as cost efficiency, particularly for smaller institutions. The creation of synergies between Green and Diamond Open Access can also help to reduce the influence of commercial publishers, a goal on which most participants agreed.

Collaboration and Shared Resources

In the framework of the conversation about infrastructures, the focus also shifted from researchers to libraries and their resources in the second part of the webinar. The participants’ interest in collaborative solutions reflects a shared understanding of the need for scaling up. Many components of a robust infrastructure are already established, thanks to the development of repositories across numerous institutions, tailored to their specific needs and capabilities. This encompasses not only the technical aspects, such as servers and software, but also the intangible elements and practices, i.e. specialised knowledge and experience gained in the management and development of these repositories as well as projects dedicated to Diamond Open Access. Envisioning how to integrate, in a coordinated way, elements that are already partially or fully available, thereby surpassing the potential of individual efforts, may be a crucial first step toward furthering non-commercial Open Access publishing.

As outlined, the one-hour webinar provided food for thought in two ways: first, it highlighted the potential of viewing Green and Diamond Open Access as complementary models with opportunities for synergies. Secondly, it identified, albeit in a preliminary manner, areas and elements that could foster these synergies. In summary, despite over two decades of Open Access development, the field still holds the potential for significant transformation – if we are willing to envision it as both possible and achievable.

Hahn, D., & Corredera Nilsson, E. (2024). «When Green Open Access Meets Diamond Open Access». Opportunities and Synergies for Non-Commercial Open Access Publishing (Webinar). open-access.network. doi.org/10.64395/fk5d0-q4v40.