The Dutch Research Council (NWO) has announced a new funding initiative to support academic journals transitioning from subscription-based models to diamond open access, where neither readers nor authors incur publication fees. With a total of €500,000 available, this Diamond Open Access fund aims to make academic research more accessible and equitable by providing up to €50,000 per project.
The program targets editorial boards, academic societies, foundations, and associations interested in “flipping” their subscription journals to diamond open access. Applicants must be affiliated with Dutch universities or research organizations, but international journals edited by Dutch researchers are also eligible. Awarded projects will have 24 months to establish a sustainable non-profit business model that ensures the journal’s viability after the transition.
This funding comes as part of NWO's broader commitment to open access, a principle it has upheld since 2015 by mandating that all publications resulting from NWO-funded research be freely accessible. Currently, over 90% of these publications are open access; however, many are published through pay-to-publish models, which require authors to cover publishing fees—a practice increasingly criticized for creating financial barriers for researchers worldwide.
Diamond open access is gaining traction as an equitable publishing model, as it eliminates costs for both authors and readers. This fund aims to encourage more journals to adopt this model, promoting fairer access to research. The initiative is in line with the EU Council’s 2023 recommendations on Open Scholarly Communication, which emphasize the need for a more diverse, fair, and accessible scholarly publishing ecosystem.
NWO’s Diamond Open Access fund represents a step toward a non-profit academic publishing landscape, joining previous initiatives such as the openjournals.nl platform, the Open Library for the Humanities (OLH), and SciPost. By supporting this transformation, NWO hopes to foster a more just and inclusive approach to scholarly communication, ultimately expanding access to scientific knowledge for researchers and readers around the world.
Click here to read the original press release.
