What is ONOS’s purpose?
ONOS (One Nation, One Subscription) aims to provide government-funded institutes in India access to over 13,000 journals from 30 international publishers.
It will replace existing consortia and offer a single platform for journal access.
The plan is to streamline access to academic papers and research for students and staff at public institutions.
Why did ONOS provoke criticism?
Critics questioned the lack of details about which journals would be included, how the ₹6,000 crore budget would be spent, and how it would support Open Access (OA) publishing.
Concerns arose over whether funds for foreign journals could have been better used to support domestic publishing.
Uncertainty existed about whether ONOS would help researchers with article processing charges (APCs) for OA journals.
What was revealed on December 11?
Package: ONOS will grant access to journals for all public institution students and staff, with negotiations for more journals underway.
Phases: ONOS will be implemented in three stages: first for public institutes, then expanded to private institutions, and finally to provide universal access through public libraries.
Open Access: A ₹150 crore pilot will be used for APCs, with discounts negotiated for OA journal publishing. The government is open to evolving with OA models.
Domestic Efforts: Acknowledgment of the need to support Indian journals and encourage greater use of domestic repositories and a focus on evaluating research merit over journal titles.
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