Has ONOS been clarified by the government?

• The Indian government launched ONOS on November 25 to improve access to research journals for public education and research institutes.

• The plan was met with criticism due to its disproportionate expense and lack of support for open-access publishing.

• On December 11, a press conference in New Delhi addressed these concerns.

• ONOS will replace subscription journals through a single window for all government-funded institutes to access over 13,000 journals published by 30 major international publishers.

• The ONOS plan was met with questions about the allocation for foreign journals and whether it would help scientists pay to publish in gold Open-Access (OA) journals or discount these payments.

• The package includes students and staff at all public institutes accessing all papers in the participating journals, irrespective of their discipline.

• The government plans to implement ONOS in three phases: merging all consortia, expanding to private institutions, and creating “universal access” to all citizens.

• In a pilot, ONOS will set aside ₹150 crore a year to pay for Article Processing Charges (APCs).

• The officials acknowledged the need to support domestic publishers and suggested other efforts to enhance, promote, and support Indian journals.