One Nation, One Subscription
Context
The Indian government recently approved the ‘One Nation, One Subscription’ (ONOS) scheme, aiming to provide equal access to scholarly journals across all public institutions.
- The scheme, with a budget of ₹6,000 crore over three years (2025-2027), is intended to democratise knowledge by making research articles accessible regardless of institutional prestige or financial capacity.
- However, the move has sparked debates about its feasibility and relevance in the global shift toward Open Access (OA) publishing.
Relevance:
GS-02 (Government policies and interventions)
Dimensions of the Article
- What is ‘One Nation, One Subscription’?
- What are the challenges?
- Significance of ONOS
What is ‘One Nation, One Subscription’?
- The scheme is coordinated by the Information and Library Network (INFLIBNET) under the University Grants Commission (UGC).
- The objective of the initiative is to ensure equitable access to research articles for all public institutions in India, benefiting especially those in tier-2 and tier-3 cities.
- Earlier, it was on a ‘pay to read’ model, where libraries and institutes paid fees to access published research.
- The scheme targets to benefit more than 1.8 crore students, faculty, and researchers from over 6,300 institutions to enhance access to international journals, boosting India’s visibility in global research communities.
- Current Scenario:
- India spends around ₹1,500-₹2,000 crore annually on journal subscriptions.
- ONOS proposes to centralise these costs under one subscription plan for the entire country.
What are the challenges?
- Shift Toward Open Access (OA):
- Over 53% of global research articles are already freely available.
- Major countries like the U.S. and EU mandate publicly funded research to be OA by 2026, making subscription models less relevant.
- Financial and ethical concerns:
- High subscription fees are paid to Western publishers, many of which operate on a profit margin exceeding 30%.
- Researchers often relinquish copyrights, allowing publishers to profit without fair compensation to the authors.
- Dependence on Western Publishers:
- India’s infrastructure and expertise in academic publishing remain underutilised.
- ONOS risks reinforcing reliance on foreign publishing monopolies instead of fostering local innovation.
- Inadequate Long-Term Preservation:
- Many research articles lack proper digital archiving, risking loss of scientific knowledge.
- Exclusion of Article Processing Charges (APC):
- Researchers publishing in Open Access journals must pay high APCs, which ONOS does not cover.
Significance of ONOS
- Democratisation of Knowledge: Ensures small institutions with limited budgets can access the same resources as elite ones.
- Potential for Better Research: Enhanced access to journals may improve the quality of Indian research and innovation.
- Global Collaboration: Aligns India’s research ecosystem with international standards, fostering global partnerships.
Way Forward
- Mandates should be made to adopt and enforce a nationwide ‘rights retention’ policy to allow researchers to self-archive their work (green OA) and also to keep it open to access for publicly funded research.
- It is equally important to improve Indian journals’ quality, visibility, and editorial processes to reduce the dependency on Western publishers.
- Revise Financial Strategy: Reassess the ₹6,000 crore allocation considering the growing availability of OA content.
- Focus funding on innovation rather than sustaining outdated subscription models.
- The government must implement policies to safeguard researchers’ copyrights, preventing unauthorised use of their work.
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