03rd December 2024 (9 Topics)
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ONOS bitten
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Context
India’s ‘One Nation, One Subscription’ (ONOS) plan was approved by the Union Cabinet to provide public access to expensive research journals through a centralized, government-funded subscription model, replacing consortia-based negotiations by libraries. However, the plan has sparked debate regarding its implications on public access, commercial publisher dominance, and the effectiveness of current research funding.
Objectives and Challenges of ONOS
- Centralization and Accessibility: The ONOS plan seeks to reduce the burden of high fees for access to research papers by centralizing subscriptions through the national government, enabling public-funded institutes to access journals.
- Limited Reach and Commercial Control: ONOS is restricted to publicly funded institutions and does not address the ongoing stranglehold of commercial publishers, which continue to profit from publicly funded research.
- Funding Allocation Concerns: While ONOS provides Rs 6,000 crore over three years for 30 major publishers, this is viewed as disproportionate compared to India's stagnating investment in research and development.
Criticism and Alternatives to ONOS
- Lack of Support for Open-Access Models: Critics argue that the government should have promoted ‘green’ and ‘diamond’ open-access models, which ensure free public access to research without relying on commercial publishers.
- Absence of Consultation and Transparency: There was no consultation with research institutes regarding their needs, and concerns remain about the inclusion of irrelevant or predatory journals in the ONOS list, as well as the opacity of the selection process.
- Weak Justification Amid Changing Publishing Trends: With the rise of ‘gold’ open-access models, where researchers pay for publication, and the growing popularity of preprints, the government’s strategy for ONOS appears outdated and misaligned with current trends in scholarly publishing.
Practice Question
Q. Critically evaluate the implications of India’s ‘One Nation, One Subscription’ (ONOS) plan for public access to research and its impact on the scholarly publishing ecosystem.
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