Science Europe joins AEGIS-OA to further strengthen Diamond Open Access in Europe

Science Europe is pleased to support the AEGIS-OA (Activate European Guidance and Incentives for Sustainable Open Access publishing), a new Horizon Europe project working to strengthen a transparent, sustainable, and high-quality Open Access scholarly publishing ecosystem across Europe.

Bringing together 24 organisations from across Europe, AEGIS-OA builds on and expands the services of the European Diamond Capacity Hub (EDCH). Running from 2026 to 2028, the project will develop practical tools, training, standards, and support structures for Diamond Open Access publishing, while strengthening cooperation between national and European initiatives.

What does AEGIS-OA do?

AEGIS-OA builds on existing work and services developed through the EDCH and previous European projects, expanding them to address some of the practical needs of the Diamond Open Access publishing community. In particular, the project will:

• Extend Diamond Open Access support to books: adapt the Diamond Open Access Standard to Open Access books and develop guidance and tools to support book publishers alongside journals;
• Develop training and skills: create training programmes, materials, and certification frameworks for editors, publishers, and other scholarly publishing professionals;
• Improve publishing tools and infrastructure: develop and test tools that can make Diamond Open Access publishing easier and more efficient, including an EDCH-compatible version of the Open Journal Systems (OJS) publishing platform;
• Strengthen national and European coordination: work with National Capacity Centres across Europe to connect national initiatives, share good practices, and strengthen support for Diamond Open Access at national level;
• Develop practical resources and guidance: produce guidelines, toolkits, policy briefs, recommendations, and other resources that can be used by publishers, research organisations, funders, and other stakeholders.

The project will also provide opportunities for exchange and community engagement through the EDCH network and project events, helping organisations share experiences and develop approaches to Diamond Open Access across different national and disciplinary contexts. The AEGIS-OA provides access to the project’s outputs, news, and events as the work progresses.

Together, these activities are intended to make Diamond Open Access more sustainable and better supported across Europe, not only by promoting the model, but by providing the standards, skills, infrastructure, and coordination needed to put it into practice.

Science Europe's role

Science Europe’ is focused on supporting the  implementation of the project and connecting its work with the wider research community. As the project develops, it  will help communicate and disseminate its activities, resources, and results through its network, with a particular focus on research funding and research performing organisations across Europe.

This will provide opportunities for our members to follow the project’s developments, access relevant resources and outputs, and engage with work that can inform approaches to Open Access and scholarly publishing within their organisations.

Our involvement in AEGIS-OA complements Science Europe’s wider work on Open Science and scholarly communication, while creating opportunities to share knowledge and practical resources with our Member Organisations and the broader research community.

Science Europe looks forward to working with the AEGIS-OA partners and contributing to the project’s work towards a more sustainable, diverse, and high-quality Open Access publishing landscape in Europe.

Learn more about AEGIS-OA: https://edch.eu/aegis-oa