What does the ONOS entail?
The One Nation, One Subscription (ONOS) scheme aims to provide equitable access to scholarly journals in all public institutions.
Approved in November 2024, ONOS has a ₹6,000 crore budget for 2025-2027 to be paid to 30 major international journal publishers.
The goal is to offer access to journals regardless of an institution's financial capacity or prestige.
Is ONOS swimming against the tide?
Yes, ONOS seems outdated as the global research ecosystem is shifting towards Open Access (OA), where research papers are freely accessible.
Over 53% of scientific papers are now OA, and more countries (like the US and EU) are pushing for immediate, unrestricted access to publicly funded research.
This raises questions about whether India should continue paying for subscriptions when so much research is already freely available.
Challenges of commercial publishing
The scholarly publishing system is dominated by a few Western commercial publishers who charge high subscription fees.
These publishers profit from publicly funded research, which is seen as exploitative because researchers don’t get paid for their work, yet institutions must pay to access it.
This system creates inefficiencies and hinders innovation by making research expensive and hard to access.
What about copyright transfers?
In subscription publishing, researchers often give up their copyrights to publishers, who can then use the work without consulting the authors.
This creates issues, especially when publishers use research content without paying authors, as seen in the 2024 controversy with Taylor & Francis and Microsoft.
There is a growing need for policies that protect the intellectual property of researchers.
Is digital content preserved?
Many digital research articles, even those with Data Object Identifiers (DOIs), are not properly preserved long-term.
An example is the 2023 discontinuation of Heterocycles journal, which left thousands of articles inaccessible for a time.
This highlights the risk of relying solely on publishers to preserve digital content, stressing the need for solutions like self-archiving and institutional repositories.
Is self-reliance possible in publishing?
Yes, India has the resources and expertise to build a self-reliant scholarly publishing system, reducing dependency on Western publishers.
India can elevate its own journals to global standards, fostering innovation and reducing the financial drain on public funds.
By investing in local infrastructure, editorial processes, and visibility, India can create a sustainable and independent research publishing ecosystem.
What could ONOS have done?
Ensure research is freely accessible through institutional repositories, reducing reliance on subscription-based models.
Implement policies that allow researchers to retain copyrights, enabling them to share and distribute their work independently.
Focus on building India's own publishing ecosystem, promoting local journals, and reducing dependence on Western publishers.
Incorporate models like preprints and open peer review to improve transparency and efficiency in scholarly publishing.
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