With the Central government launching the One Nation One Subscription initiative on November 25, many scholars and academics lauded the move, claiming that it would revolutionise scientific research and higher education in India.
As per the plan, which will be implemented from January 2025, 18 million students, researchers, and professors will have free access to approximately 13,000 articles, including those from difficult-to-access publications like Elsevier, Springer Nature, and Wiley.
According to Hindustan Times, even research scholars from abroad lauded the plan, and wished that similar policies existed in their countries as well.
“Easy access to knowledge is hugely beneficial, and I hope the US can compete with it in the long term,” a Reddit user from the United States of America wrote. Another user commented, “India is doing things right here.”
"Wow. I used to cry about this all the time during med school. Not having access to journals is a huge barrier to (open) science and research. Big equalizer moves from the Indian government," posted Zaitoon, a Reddit user from the USA.
Lauding the initiative, Niko McCarthy, Founder & Editor of Asimov Press, a journal for an American biotechnology company of the same name wrote on X, “Indian gov't is buying a subscription to 13,000 academic journals, and then making them all available to "18 million students, faculty, and researchers" for free (.sic),” asking if any other countries have done something similar.
Users, particularly those from the USA responded that the American Congress must pass a resolution that any research paper published in the country must automatically be licensed to the US Government.
The $715 million plan, which spans three years, includes 30 major publishers and is the largest of its kind in the world.
ONOS will provide Indian academics with access to a multitude of research articles via a single platform, lowering expenses and increasing access.
