Bengaluru Open Access Diamond Roadmap
The Latin American Council of Social Sciences (CLACSO) participated in the development of the “ Bengaluru Roadmap and Action Plan on Diamond Open Access ,” which refers to open access that does not charge for reading or publishing. This is the final document of the 3rd Global Summit on Diamond Open Access , held in Bengaluru, India, from February 2 to 6, 2026, with various contributions from CLACSO.
The Bengaluru Roadmap was developed through a collective process led by the International Oversight Committee, in which CLACSO participates, based on the discussions and outcomes of the Summit. It reflects the deliberations of 347 participants from 36 countries, who met in Bengaluru to promote a common global framework for scholarly communication as a public good, free for authors and readers, managed by the community, and based on the principle that scientific knowledge belongs to everyone.
In essence, this document advocates for a structural change in how publicly funded knowledge is produced, assessed, and shared. Aimed at governments, research funding and implementing organizations, institutions, and academic communities, the Roadmap defines six priority Action Areas, including:
♦ Integrate Diamond Open Access into national policies and legal frameworks.
♦ Reorient spending on publications towards community-managed infrastructure.
♦ Reform research assessment systems to recognize Diamond Open Access publications, multilingual scholarly output, and community-managed spaces.
♦ Strengthen shared infrastructure and interoperability.
♦ Recognize and support the human work behind academic communication.
♦ Promote linguistic diversity and marginalized knowledge systems.
All stakeholders are encouraged to translate these recommendations into concrete actions.
CLACSO thanks all the speakers, organizers, moderators, and collaborators for their participation, experience, and valuable contributions throughout the development process. This Roadmap is the result of their collective effort and commitment.
See also: CLACSO's participation in the 3rd Diamond Global Open Access Summit.
