A New Shield for Diamond Open Access in Europe: Launching the AEGIS-OA Project

AEGIS-OA (Activate European Guidance and Incentives for Sustainable Open Access publishing), an EU-funded project under the Horizon Europe research and innovation programme, kicked off on 19-20 March 2026 in Brussels. The project aims to establish a transparent, sustainable, and high-quality open access scholarly publishing ecosystem in Europe by leveraging and expanding the services of the European Diamond Capacity Hub (EDCH). It focuses on integrating open access books alongside journals, upskilling publishing professionals through training programs, and coordinating a network of National Capacity Centres to align national efforts and initiatives across disciplines and borders.

The project is powered by a consortium of 24 partners from 16 European countries, comprising 14 beneficiary partners and 10 associated partners. This motivated and expert group includes a diverse range of research-performing organisations (RPOs), service providers, and National Capacity Centres (NCCs) with expertise in institutional publishing, diamond open access, and open science.

Strengthening the Foundation: The EDCH Connection

The AEGIS-OA project is strategically designed to leverage and expand on the EDCH, built on outputs developed during previous EU-funded projects, including DIAMAS and CRAFT-OA, as well as results from the PALOMERA project. It aims to integrate and build on these existing tools, services and resources to avoid duplicating efforts and focusing on upscaling, refining and streamlining the existing initiatives.

Key Project Pillars 

A primary objective of the project is to extend EDCH services which currently are focused on journals to include Diamond OA books. Recognising that monographs and edited volumes are vital to scholarly communication, AEGIS-OA aims to:

• Extend quality & standards: Extending the Diamond Open Access Standard (DOAS) to books and creating a certification framework.
• Support skills & training: Developing training programs for publishing professionals and upskilling trainers across the European Research Area (ERA).
• Build tools & technology: Enhancing the Diamond Discovery Hub (DDH) and providing ready-to-use publishing tools like an EDCH-aligned OJS package.
• Focus on sustainability: Coordinating national funding mechanisms and National Capacity Centres (NCCs) to ensure long-term stability for Diamond OA.

Coming Soon & How to Stay Involved

The dedicated webpage including all useful information on AEGIS-OA will soon be integrated into the EDCH website. Make sure to follow our official EDCH channels to receive all updates on AEGIS-OA.

We’re looking forward to working with the vibrant Diamond OA community to keep building and sustaining an equitable, community-led scholarly publishing landscape.