DIAMAS project launches new tool to benchmark quality in Diamond Open Access 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.

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, the Extensible Quality Standard in Institutional Publishing (EQSIP) for Diamond Open Access.

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.

More information can be found here, including a practical factsheet (here) and a video tutorial (here).