The Diamond OA Standard (DOAS) is a new tool brought to you by the DIAMAS project to promote quality in Diamond open access (OA) publishing. Serving as both a technical guide and a practical benchmarking resource, DOAS combines comprehensive guidelines with a self-assessment tool to elevate standards in scholarly publishing.
We have published a factsheet to help you understand DOAS.
You can also watch a short video which showcases the self-assessment tool.
Visit the self-assessment tool itself here.
Understanding DOAS: A Comprehensive Quality Framework
DOAS is based on essential and testable criteria across seven key components of scholarly publishing to ensure equitable, transparent, and high-quality practices. These components include:
- Funding
- Legal Ownership, Mission, and Governance
- Open Science
- Editorial Management, Editorial Quality, and Research Integrity
- Technical Service Efficiency
- Visibility, Communication, Marketing, and Impact
- Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging (EDIB), Multilingualism, and Gender Equity
Each of these areas is supported by detailed criteria and guidelines developed through rigorous analysis of existing standards and best practices, further refined by community feedback. By addressing these core components, DOAS advocates for a publishing model that is both accessible and governed by the academic community. The standards were outlined in DIAMAS project deliverable EQSIP.
Operationalising DOAS: The Self-Assessment Tool
The introduction of the DOAS Self-assessment tool marks a significant step in ensuring adherence to high-quality Diamond OA standards. This tool enables publishers to evaluate their compliance with these standards, providing a clear pathway to enhancing their publishing practices. Institutions can use this resource to identify strengths and weaknesses, facilitating improvement towards Diamond OA-level publishing standards.
How to Implement DOAS:
- Review: Examine evidence-based standards across the seven core components of scholarly publishing.
- Assess: Utilise the self-assessment tool to evaluate compliance with Diamond OA quality standards.
- Transform: Transition your publishing operations to an equitable model. Diamondise your journals!
- Evaluate: Publishers and journals can assess their adherence to DOAS, identifying areas for improvement.
Why Use DOAS:
- Integrity and Standards: Protects the integrity of scholarly publishing by adhering to evidence-based standards developed with community consultation.
- Support for Diamond Publishing: Ensures high standards and supports the growth of Diamond OA publishing.
- Transparency: Maintains transparency in governance, processes, and workflows, essential for credible and ethical publishing activities.
We encourage you to use the self-assessment tool and share it with journal editors and publishers! DOAS allows you the tools and standards to ensure the highest quality in Diamond OA publishing.
