'One nation, one subscription': India pushes bold proposal for free journal-access plan

The Central government is pushing a bold 'one nation, one subscription' proposal, in a bid to make scholarly literature accessible for free to everyone in the country, according to media reports. The government under its latest science, technology and innovation policy, developed by the office of the Principal Scientific Advisor K Vijay Raghavan and the Science and Technology Ministry, is expected to release a draft of the proposal in the coming weeks, the report stated.

Reacting to the news, Retired Indian diplomat Syed Akbaruddin who served as India's permanent representative to United Nations, has praised the government move and said "India pushes bold 'one nation, one subscription' journal-access plan. A game changer in the offing for Indian researchers, if it comes through".

In order to make scholarly literature widely accessible, the government would negotiate with the world's biggest scientific publishers to establish nationwide subscriptions, instead of many agreements with individual institutions that only scholars can use, the report stated citing the researchers consulting for the government. Furthermore, a draft of the proposal will likely be approved by the Union Cabinet before the year's end.

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The success of the proposal relies on willingness of publishers

The success of the proposal relies on the willingness of the publishers' to negotiate nationwide subscriptions. However, if negotiations are successful, India would become the largest country to strike deals with global publishers, giving access to their paywalled articles to all of its citizens. Besides, India's success in negotiating deals with publishers could also pave way for other countries to follow suit.

According to data compiled by the US National Science Foundation, India was the third-largest producer of science and engineering articles in 2018, publishing more than 135,000 documents. As a large research producer, the country’s position might carry more weight in negotiations with publishers than smaller nations that produce less, claims the report.

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About ‘One nation, one subscription’

Rough estimates suggest that research institutes in India spend at least 15 billion rupees (US$200 million) on subscriptions to paywalled scholarly literature each year. By clubbing together to negotiate with publishers, members of the advisory group say, the government could significantly reduce these costs, and expand access to all Indians.

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