India to Cover APCs for Top-Tier Journals Under ONOS Initiative

A milestone moment for the Indian academic community! The Government of India has launched the APC (Article Processing Charge) Guidelines Version 1 under the One Nation One Subscription (#ONOS) initiative. This visionary step is set to make open-access publishing more equitable and within reach for every Indian scholar. *** The Government will now cover APCs for publishing in top-tier open-access journals. *** Eligible journals are ranked within the top 1% globally (based on CiteScore, SNIP, or SJR). *** Authors affiliated with Indian institutions, universities, IITs, research labs, etc. can benefit. A dedicated central APC fund (~₹150 crore) under ONOS will manage and reimburse publication charges. Truly a progressive leap towards democratising knowledge and celebrating Indian scholars on the world stage! APC Help Manual https- //lnkd.in/eiTTai-H APC Guidelines https- //lnkd.in/epvaskYQ Selected Journal Titles https-//lnkd.in/ey8TKjX6

A milestone moment for the Indian academic community ! The Government of India has launched the APC (Article Processing Charge) Guidelines – Version 1 under the One Nation One Subscription (#ONOS) initiative. This visionary step is set to make open-access publishing more equitable and within reach for every Indian scholar. *** The Government will now cover APCs for publishing in top-tier open-access journals. *** Eligible journals are those ranked within the top 1% globally (based on CiteScore, SNIP, or SJR). *** Authors affiliated with Indian institutions, universities, IITs, research labs, etc. can benefit. A dedicated central APC fund (~₹150 crore) under ONOS will manage and reimburse publication charges. Truly a progressive leap towards democratising knowledge and celebrating Indian scholars on the world stage! 🙌 APC Help Manual https- //lnkd.in/eiTTai-H APC Guidelines https- //lnkd.in/epvaskYQ Selected Journal Titles https-//lnkd.in/ey8TKjX6 Read and Publish agreement for ACM Digital Library https-//lnkd.in/ekrjpYjf #ONOS #OpenAccess #AcademicResearch #IndiaInScience #ResearchEquity #SciencePolicy #ScholarlyPublishing #KnowledgeForAll #PublicHealth #Research #Phd #Postdoc #Academia #Research #India

Indian Universities and Institutions are witnessing fundamental change and focusing on research and development, which may lead to a broader classification of Indian universities as teaching universities or research universities. Many of my colleagues and friends in academia feel that it may be required today because of 1. Huge Infrastructure and investment are required to build research universities. 2. An ecosystem is required to build over a long period of time to build research universities. 3. Need faculties to carry forward research and development over a period of time to build research universities. 4. Vision required by leaders to build research universities. and many more e.g.: - https://lnkd.in/d5GiK5Nc

Big News for Indian Researchers! 🇮🇳 The Government of India has launched APC Guidelines (Version 1) under the One Nation One Subscription (ONOS) initiative — a game-changer for open-access publishing. ✨ Key highlights: ✅ Govt will cover APCs for publishing in top 1% global open-access journals (based on CiteScore, SNIP, or SJR). ✅ Eligible: Authors from Indian universities, IITs, research labs, and institutes. ✅ A ₹150 crore central APC fund will manage and reimburse publication costs. This is a major step toward research equity, global visibility, and empowering Indian scholars to publish without financial barriers. 🔗 Learn more & apply: https://onos.gov.in → Click “APC” #ONOS #OpenAccess #AcademicResearch #ResearchEquity #IndiaInScience #ScholarlyPublishing #KnowledgeForAll #PhD #Postdoc #Research #Academia #India

Big News for Indian Researchers 🇮🇳 — Government to Cover Article Publishing Charges under ONOS! The Government of India has officially released the APC (Article Processing Charge) Guidelines – Version 1 under the One Nation One Subscription (ONOS) initiative. This is a major step toward making research publication more equitable and accessible for all Indian scholars. 💡What this means: APCs for high-quality open-access journals will now be paid by the government, not by individual authors. The scheme will support publications in journals that fall within the top 1% globally (based on indicators like CiteScore, SNIP, or SJR). Only authors affiliated with participating Indian institutions (Central and state universities, IITs, research labs, etc.) will be eligible. A central APC fund (~150 cr.) has been created under ONOS to manage and reimburse these charges. This visionary initiative will: ✅ Remove financial barriers for Indian researchers. ✅ Encourage open-access publishing in reputable journals. ✅ Promote greater global visibility of Indian research output. APC Guidelines https://lnkd.in/epvaskYQ APC Help Manual  https://lnkd.in/eiTTai-H Selected Journal Titles https://lnkd.in/ey8TKjX6 Read and Publish agreement for ACM Digital Library https://lnkd.in/ekrjpYjf

🌟 A historic step for Indian academia! Feeling proud to see the launch of the APC Guidelines (Version 1) under the One Nation One Subscription (#ONOS) initiative — making open-access publishing equitable and accessible for every Indian researcher. Truly a milestone in India’s journey toward research equity and global scholarly visibility. 🇮🇳✨ 🔗 https://onos.gov.in #ONOS #OpenAccess #AcademicResearch #ResearchEquity #Innovation #ICSSR #ScholarlyPublishing #IndiaInScience #PhD #Postdoc #Academia

The #UGC mandated that a #PhD scholar must publish two research papers to submit their synopsis. This requirement was subsequently withdrawn, but the institutions were given the freedom to decide on the prerequisite of publications. Given that accreditation parameters and the need to establish themselves as prestigious #research institutions, almost all institutions continue to mandate two or three papers as a prerequisite for PhD completion. In a way, the UGC acted as a catalyst – it has created a research environment that puts publications first. I’m not going to discuss the pros and cons of this move or the implications of this publication first strategy. Let me, however, talk about the skeleton in the closet. And here are some of my observations: 1.     Many PhD scholars (even #EarlyCareerResearchers) chase #publications. For them publications are the primary end point – not a natural consequence of doing research. 2.     Their awareness of the research ecosystem is a deep concern. 3.     They relied heavily on “illegal platforms” to access info. This was evident when an Indian high court ruled in favour of #Elsevier and #Wiley in banning one such platform. 4.     They use fewer to no tools to #organize their research – no note-taking apps, no reference managers. 5.     They blindly rely on the free versions of #GenAI available, without understanding the pitfalls and limitations. So instead of lamenting about what is happening and why this is happening, we tried to do something that can change this state. What small things that Tholga can do to improve? What can happen if every first-year researcher know things their counterpart knows in a premier institute? #FirstMile was born out of this thought. First Mile walks alongside the first-year researcher and gives them clarity and direction. Where to look for data? How to organize it? How to do literature survey? How to follow people and platforms relevant to their research? How to inculcate the habit of research writing? What tools are available – and how to use them judiciously? And many more. By the end of their first year, through nine themes , and 30+ live and recorded sessions, they will have taken the right first steps in their long research journey. What’s more special is this programme is available in English and #Tamil. The goal is to reach a larger audience for a greater impact. To know more about the programme, visit https://lnkd.in/gKHhkDNR. Please let us know what else can be added to make it stronger, while keeping it to essentials. The introductory webinars on 15 Oct (English) and 16 Oct (Tamil) will outline the programme. If you are interested, don’t forget to register here (links in the comments). Please share this announcement in your circles and help us reach more researchers.

🚀 Exciting opportunity for Indian researchers and higher-education institutions! The One Nation One Subscription (#ONOS) initiative has opened up Article Publishing Charges (#APC) support for high-quality open‐access journals. According to the program: 👉 APCs will be centrally funded for selected open-access journals that meet the criteria of being in the top 1% (based on CiteScore, SNIP or SJR from Scopus). 👉 The eligible journals can be from the 30 publishers already providing access via ONOS or other publishers. 👉 It’s part of a bigger push: The partnership with ACM, Association for Computing Machinery under a “Read-and-Publish” agreement gives 6,500 + government-funded higher-ed & research institutions in India full premium access to the #ACM Digital Library and enables authors to publish unlimited open-access articles in ACM journals with no APCs. For more information: https://lnkd.in/g9dDEdzR Available Journals: https://lnkd.in/gKrBKEzJ About ONOS: https://www.onos.gov.in/ ✅ Expanding India’s Open Science ecosystem

𝙁𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙊𝙉𝙊𝙎 𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙛𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩! 🚀 Just caught up on India’s science policy and had a “wow” moment realizing the impact of the 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐛𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 (𝐎𝐍𝐎𝐒) initiative — launched in late 2024 to give government medical college students free access to premium journals of Publishers like Elsevier, Sage, and ScienceDirect, etc. Now, it gets even better. The next phase is now in full swing, and it's a huge win for researchers who are creating and spreading knowledge. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐬 (𝐀𝐏𝐂𝐬) 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐎𝐍𝐎𝐒 𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞! For thousands of students and faculty, this means the biggest barrier to publishing in top journals—𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐭—is finally gone. For anyone who missed this update, here's what it means: ✅ 𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝘼𝙋𝘾𝙨, 𝙋𝙖𝙞𝙙: If your paper is accepted by a top-tier, fully Open Access journal, the government picks up the tab. No more hunting for funds! The government is directly paying the fees for Indian researchers to publish in these reputed journals. ✅ 𝙒𝙝𝙤'𝙨 𝘾𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙙?: Regular faculty, students, and researchers at any ONOS-registered institution. If you're the 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 or 𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓, you're good to go. ✅ 𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙋𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝?: We're talking the elite—𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐎𝐀 𝐣𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝟏% 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 (as per 𝗦𝗰𝗼𝗽𝘂𝘀 metrics). This gives Indian research a direct gateway to the world's most prestigious platforms. ⚙️ 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝘁 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀: The process is streamlined. Apply on the ONOS portal post-acceptance, get verified by your institution, and the government pays the publisher directly. Simple and seamless. 𝗠𝘆 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲: This is a monumental win — I can almost feel the collective sigh of relief from colleges and institutions across the country. It’s a powerful investment in our intellectual capital, unlocking the potential of countless brilliant minds. ONOS tackles two major academic hurdles: first, access to top global research; now, the means to publish in it — freeing thousands of scholars from funding worries. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒂 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏'𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔... What if part of this investment built our 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝-𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦? That would truly reflect #AtmanirbharBharat in academia. Still, let’s celebrate what is: a bold, pragmatic step empowering our nation’s brightest minds. Kudos to everyone involved — the future of 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 looks brighter than ever. 🇮🇳 #ONOS #ResearchIndia #OpenAccess #APC #HigherEducation #INFLIBNET #SciencePolicy #Innovation #ViksitBharat #IndianAcademia #Elsevier #ScienceDirect #AtmanirbharBharat

While my career has shifted from policy research to communications, I try to stay updated on metascience studies and the broader movement toward a more open and inclusive scientific ecosystem. The progress in advocating for better open access infrastructure and transparent research reward mechanisms is critical and encouraging to follow. I am elated to share one such policy paper I contributed to during my tenure at DST-CPR, IISc was recently published in the Proceedings of the Indian National Science Academy. The paper, "Understanding Indian researcher’s perspectives on preprints," aims to establish an early understanding of how researchers in India view preprints and their adoption. The findings highlight the critical need for supportive policies, institutional guidelines, and cultural shifts in research assessment to fully realize the potential of preprint as a key open science tool.