A German version of a key reference document for fair and public-interest-oriented scientific publishing is now available for the Diamond Open Access Standard (DOAS). The DOAS is one of the main outcomes of the DIAMAS project and formulates, for the first time, a common quality framework for diamond open access journals. The aim of the DOAS is to strengthen scientific journals as a public good – defined and controlled by scientific communities. The German version now available facilitates access to the standard, supports its dissemination in German-speaking countries and promotes the further professionalisation of diamond open access initiatives.
Target groups and development process ‘diamondisation’
Diamond open access (diamond OA) refers to publication models in which neither authors nor readers pay fees. The DOAS is aimed at scientific publication service providers such as universities, scientific societies or community-supported publishers who bear the legal, ethical and scientific responsibility for their journals. Not all initiatives currently fully meet the requirements of diamond OA. The DOAS has coined the term ‘diamondisation’ to describe this development process: the gradual transition to a completely fee-free, community-driven publication model.
Seven core components for responsible publishing
In terms of content, the DOAS is structured around seven core components, including funding, governance, open science practices, editorial quality, technical infrastructure, visibility, and equal opportunities, diversity and multilingualism. These criteria are not only to be understood as benchmarks for diamond OA, but as general quality characteristics of responsible scientific publishing.
Further information
- The German version of the Diamond Open Access Standard can be found on Zenodo at the following link: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18223359
- The original English version can be found here: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15227981
- You can access the DIAMAS project website here: https://diamasproject.eu/