Why Diamond Open Access Matters: A Call to ENT Researchers - Turkish Archives of Otorhinolaryngology

"Over the past twenty years, open access publishing has been enthusiastically embraced as a means of making scientific knowledge accessible to a wider audience. Initially, it was seen as a significant opportunity by the academic world (1). However, over time, while this model provided free access to readers, it also created significant financial burdens for authors due to the publication fees they incurred. Today, the vast majority of open access journals require authors to pay article processing charges (APCs), which typically range from $250 to $3,500 per accepted article (2, 3).

This situation has created a major challenge, particularly for researchers in low- and middle-income countries where physician salaries are low and funding systems supporting scientific research are underdeveloped. In many countries, APCs can exceed physician salaries, making it very difficult for scientists to submit their work to high-quality journals. As a result, the ideal of “equality of access to information” at the heart of the “open access” concept is not being fully realized (2, 4).

At this point, “diamond open access,” also referred to as “platinum open access,” a lesser-known but more inclusive model of open access publishing, has come to the fore. In this model, there are no fees for either readers or authors. However, the most significant challenge for this model is sustainability: very few journals worldwide have adopted it, and many of those that have are supported by universities, civil society organizations, and research institutions (5-7).

The Turkish Archives of Otorhinolaryngology, the official scientific publication of the Turkish Society of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, has been a diamond open access journal since 2013, charging no fees to readers or authors. Our association has borne this financial burden for years, dedicating itself to promoting scientific publishing and providing an equal publishing environment for both national and international researchers."