As ALMASI moves into its second half, it’s worth taking stock of everything that has been delivered so far, from major research outputs and open datasets to policy forums, regional events, and a growing community of advocates.

Building the evidence base

A core part of ALMASI’s mid-term achievements has been the production of robust research on the state of non-profit and Diamond OA publishing. Two major open reports anchor this work:

• The Scoping Report on Non-for-profit Publishing Ecosystems, which sets out shared terminology for ALMASI’s Diamond OA work and provides an overview of existing knowledge across the three regions in terms of funding mechanisms, organisational and governance structures, platforms, solutions and services, and the types of outputs associated with Diamond OA in Africa, Europe, and Latin America.

• The Landscape Report on Diamond Open Access Publishing in Africa, Europe, and Latin America, offers a comparative, cross-regional view of the conditions and policies shaping community-owned, no-fee publishing model across 44 countries, covering legal frameworks, funding, infrastructure, and institutional support. It finds that Diamond OA’s future depends less on publishing incentives than on high-level policy recognising scholarly publishing as a global public good, and offers six recommendations for context-specific action.

Alongside these reports, the project has published a database of Diamond OA Talking points, a concise resource designed to help advocates, funders, and policymakers communicate the value of Diamond OA clearly and consistently.

To make this evidence base actionable, ALMASI also launched a public Database of institutional and national Diamond OA policies and funding programmes, giving researchers, institutions, and funders a practical reference point for existing policy and funding frameworks around the world.

Rounding out this body of work is a series of advocacy video clips, created to communicate the case for Diamond OA in accessible, engaging formats for a broader audience.

Convening policymakers and funders

To turn research into action, the ALMASI project developed the Diamond OA Policy Forum. This unique space brings together international, national, and local policymakers and funders from across Africa, Europe, and Latin America.

The Forum gives participants a dedicated place to discuss non-profit scholarly publishing policy and funding needs, share progress, and address common challenges. Sharing expertise on policy recommendations and funding mechanisms across regions is key to supporting more equitable, diverse, and community-led Diamond OA publishing worldwide.

Five regional and two cross-regional events were organised during the first half of the project, bringing together about 800 policymakers and funders to raise awareness of ongoing change in the sector and to share good practices across contexts. You can find the highlights from the cross-regional fora here:  

• First Diamond OA Policy Forum addresses sustaining Diamond OA in Africa, Europe and Latin America

• Advancing Diamond OA Policymaking: Highlights from the 2nd Cross-Regional Diamond OA Policy Forum

All the recordings and slides from regional and cross-regional fora are available on the Diamond OA Policy Forum webpage on the ALMASI website.

Strengthening community reach

Beyond formal policy engagement, ALMASI has also invested in building a broader community around scholar-led publishing. This has included the ALMASI Discussion Series on Scholar-led Publishing, which has opened up conversations on the practicalities and challenges of scholar-led models.

• The first session in the series examined how Diamond Open Access can contribute to a more equitable and community-driven publishing ecosystem, focusing on the key legal and rights-related principles that support public-good publishing, including rights retention and community governance.

• The second session brought together speakers from Africa, Europe and Latin America to examine how community-governed approaches to scholarly publishing are taking shape in very different research ecosystems.

The project also launched the ALMASI Ambassador Programme, creating a network of advocates who can champion Diamond OA within their own institutions and communities, helping the project’s message travel further than its formal events alone could reach.

Looking ahead

With this strong foundation in place, ALMASI is now turning its attention to the second half of the project. The focus going forward will be on deepening the project’s core activities, continuing the policy engagement and community-building work already underway, while placing particular emphasis on strengthening collaboration between Africa and Latin America, two regions with much to share and gain from closer partnership in advancing Diamond Open Access.

The mid-term review confirms that ALMASI is well on track to deliver on its ambition: a more open, equitable, and sustainable scholarly publishing landscape, built on collaboration across regions and disciplines.

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