Diamond Open Access Conference Report published
How can Diamond Open Access be better supported in Switzerland? What are the opportunities and challenges associated with scholar-led publication initiatives? These questions stood at the centre of the 1st Swiss Diamond Open Access Conference, which took place in Bern on 8 March 2024 under the title “Acting Together for Sustainable Scholar-Led Publishing”.
The conference was organised by the “Platinum Open Access Funding” (PLATO) project and the aim of the conference was to discuss the opportunities and challenges of Diamond Open Access in Switzerland, in order to identify future avenues for support and funding. This is an urgent concern, since for Switzerland – apart from the funding of journals offered by the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences (SAGW), –there is currently no funding available for Diamond Open Access journals, which often operate on a voluntary basis. At the same time, it seems very likely that Diamond Open Access will be part of the framework of the revised National Open Access Strategy, which will be adopted in summer 2024 and will thus put Diamond Open Access on the agenda of libraries, universities and funding institutions.
A detailed conference report with summaries of the talks and panels can be downloaded here.