Govt plans centralised subscriptions for top academic journals

India’s delayed unified subscription scheme to access top academic journals for centrally-funded institutions is set to kick in from 2025, although academics and experts worry that the country is moving counter to the global trend, which is towards open-access publishing and that it may end up paying more than necessary.

The so-called “One Nation One Subscription” policy to provide centralised digital access to top academic journals for universities and researchers, aims to replace the current system of individual and consortia-based subscriptions with government-negotiated national licences.

The Ministry of Education (MoE) this month confirmed that the negotiations have been concluded and that the proposal is now under review by the Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC). Institutions have been directed not to renew their journal subscriptions for 2025, as the ONOS policy is set to be implemented in Phase-1 for 2025-2027.

In a letter to Centrally Funded Technical Institutions (CFTIs) and Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), MoE Higher Education Secretary Sanjay K. Murthy wrote, “You would appreciate the fact that negotiations in this regard have been concluded and the proposal is at an advanced stage of consideration by the EFC. All CFTIs/HEIs are requested not to renew their journal subscriptions till further instructions of the Ministry.”

Achal Agrawal, Head of India Research Watch, pointed out that the current cost of individual subscriptions by universities is unknown, making it unclear whether ONOS will reduce or increase the country’s overall expenditure. He said. “What is not clear is how the negotiation happened. For instance, if there are around 1,500 universities in India, and not all of them subscribe to every publisher. Will the government’s deal force the country to pay for access to publishers that some institutions may not even use?”

Abha Dev Habib, Secretary of the Democratic Teachers’ Front and Associate Professor of Physics at Miranda House, highlighted another problem. “The government is becoming a single-window broker instead of allowing universities to decide which journals they need. This is an attack on academic freedom,” she said.