Advancing equity and inclusion in scientific communication: results of the global consultation on Diamond Open Access
FOLEC-CLACSO recommends reading the report Advancing Equity and Inclusion in Scholarly Communication: Findings from the Consultation on a Global Diamond Open Access FrameworkPublished by UNESCO in 2025, this document presents the results of a broad global consultation on the model of Diamond Open Access, carried out between September 2024 and January 2025, with the participation of almost 2.900 people from 90 countries.
The study identifies broad support for this non-profit academic publishing model, based on community management and the principles of equity, inclusion, multilingualism, and the public good. However, it also reveals persistent challenges: a lack of sustainable funding, technical and institutional limitations, limited academic recognition, and linguistic and regional barriers that restrict equitable participation in scientific communication.
Among its main contributions, the report highlights the need to decentralized governance with regional leadershipsupported by voluntary and flexible frameworks built on shared values rather than imposed rules. The stakeholders consulted proposed as priorities investing in public infrastructure, promoting multilingual publishing, developing standards adapted to local contexts, and recognizing a broader range of scholarly contributions. They also indicated that UNESCO's role should focus on facilitating dialogue, building capacity, and promoting international cooperation.
This work constitutes a key input for understanding the global state of Diamond Open Access or Non-Commercial Open Access and its structural challenges, as well as for guiding scientific policies that strengthen equity and diversity in the production and circulation of knowledge.
The full report can be found in the UNESDOC repository: Advancing Equity and Inclusion in Scholarly CommunicationWe invite the academic and scientific communities, policymakers, and regional networks to explore this document, which proposes concrete paths toward a fairer, more open, and collaborative publishing ecosystem.
