The University Library (UL) is strongly committed to promoting equitable open access through Diamond Open Access (OA) publishing models, which provide free access to content for both authors and readers.
The Diamond Open Access (OA) model seeks to address the inequality issues inherent in other OA models, such as Gold Open Access, which often require authors to pay high publication fees. However, because Diamond OA initiatives do not generate revenue through subscriptions or publication fees, they frequently face challenges in securing sustainable funding. Instead, they often rely on institutional support and similar resources to maintain their operations. The library is proud to support the following initiatives and journals:
Supported Diamond Open Access journals:
Subscribe to Open (S2O)
The Subscribe to Open (S2O) model in allows institutions to “subscribe” to traditionally closed journals, but the subscription fees are used to make the publications Open Access at no cost to the authors. This model often requires a journal to meet a yearly quota of subscribers for the content to become Open Access. Supported journals are the Annual Review Economics Collection (3 journals) and Social Sciences Collection (13 journals); Bergham Open Anthro collection; DNK Documentatieblad voor Nederlandse Kerkgeschiedenis voor 1800; Pedagogiek; Tijdschrift voor Genderstudies;Economics; Sociology. Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis; Tijdschrift voor Taalbeheersing ;Pedagogiek; Tijdschrift voor Genderstudies; Trajecta. Religion, Culture and Society in the Low Countries;
EUR Library Fund or donations
The following journals have received funding from EUR via the Diamond Open Access Fund or donations: Erasmus Journal for Philosophy and Economics; Journal of Economics, Theology and Religion; Sociologie; Journal for the History of Knowledge; Journal of Trial and Error;
Supporting Diamond Open Access books:
Direct to Open (D2O)
Similar to S20, the Direct to Open (D2O) model flips monographs (instead of journals) to Open Access, making them available for free to other universities across the world. We have participated in MIT Press Direct to Open titles, Bloomsbury’s 'African Studies and International Development’ pledge, and the Knowledge Unlatched SDG 13: Climate Action 2024 eBook collection pledge.
Leading the national project ‘Strengthening Diamond Open Access in the Netherlands’
The library is leading the three-year project (2024-2026) ‘Strengthening Diamond Open Access in the Netherlands’ supported by the Dutch Consortium of University Libraries (UKB). The project aims to reinforce and future-proof the current national Diamond OA publishing through three key strategies:
- Mapping the Diamond OA landscape in the Netherlands;
- Developing cost-efficient collective infrastructure for journals and books, with a focus on openjournals.nl and library-led university presses;
- Establishing an Expertise Center on Diamond Open Access.
More information about the project is available here.