First phase of ‘One Nation One Subscription’ approved: How the scheme can improve govt institutions’ access to journals

Here’s a breakdown of the current system, the Cabinet’s approval, and the roadmap for this initiative.

How do HEIs currently access journals?

Currently, HEIs can access journals through 10 different library consortia which are under the administrative control of various ministries. A library consortium is a group of two or more libraries that have agreed to cooperate to fulfil certain similar needs, usually resource sharing. For instance, INFLIBNET Centre (Information and Library Network Centre) in Gandhinagar is an Inter-University Centre of the University Grants Commission under the Ministry of Education (India) which oversees the UGC-Infonet Digital Library Consortium, providing access to selected scholarly electronic journals and databases in different disciplines.

Apart from this, HEIs also subscribe to several journals individually. According to government estimates, roughly 2,500 HEIs can access 8,100 journals through the above networks and individual subscriptions.

What does the ONOS scheme offer?

Through the ONOS scheme, the Centre aims to consolidate the disaggregated approach to journal access for all government HEIs. ONOS will enable state and central government HEIs to access thousands of journals on one platform, which will be active from January 1, 2025.

This common platform will host 13,000 journals published by 30 international publishers including Elsevier Science Direct (including Lancet), Springer Nature, Wiley Blackwell Publishing, Taylor & Francis, IEEE, Sage Publishing, American Chemical Society, and American Mathematical Society, among others. All institutions will only need to register on the platform to access these journals. INFLIBNET has been designated as the implementing agency for this initiative. The central government negotiated one subscription price for each of the 30 different publishers and approved Rs 6,000 crore for three calendar years — 2025, 2026 and 2027.

“If HEIs still want access to journals outside the 13,000 available on the common platform, they can subscribe to them individually,” an officer told The Indian Express.

What is the need for ONOS?

The ONOS scheme has been justified on four grounds.

First, it would expand access to the best scholarly journals for 55 lakh to nearly 1.8 crore students, faculty, and researchers across roughly 6,300 government universities, colleges, research bodies, and Institutions of National Importance (INIs), including those in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.

Second, it would avoid duplication of journal subscriptions across different library consortia and individual higher education institutions and hence reduce excess expenditure on overlapping resources.

Third, a single subscription for all central and state government HEIs would provide better bargaining power when negotiating with publishers. Citing an example, a source in the central government said, “We have been meeting with representatives of different publishers over the last two years, and during this time, we have worked to negotiate the best price. As a result, the initial cost of Rs 4,000 crore per year for 13,000 journals has been reduced to Rs 1,800 crore.”

Fourth, the Centre will gain insights into the extent to which journals are being accessed and downloaded by the government higher education ecosystem, according to the official. “This will not only help in long-term planning but also allow us to encourage inactive institutions to fully utilise the platform and promote its benefits among their teachers, students, and researchers,” the officer said.

When was ONOS conceptualised?

The initiative originates from the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which emphasised research as a cornerstone for achieving excellence in education and national development. “If India is to become a leader in these disparate areas, and truly achieve the potential of its vast talent pool to again become a leading knowledge society in the coming years and decades, the nation will require a significant expansion of its research capabilities and output across disciplines,” the NEP 2020 states. The policy strongly recommended the establishment of a National Research Foundation (NRF) to seed, fund, nurture, and promote research and development (R&D) while fostering a culture of innovation across India’s higher education ecosystem.

In 2022, the central government took a concrete step toward this goal by forming a core committee of secretaries, chaired by the Principal Scientific Advisor. This committee then constituted a cost negotiation panel to carry out robust negotiations with journal publishers for the ONOS initiative. The Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) was established early this year.

What happens next?

The next step is for the central government to negotiate Article Processing Charges (APCs) with journal publishers. APCs, also known as publication fees, are charges authors must pay to publish in certain journals. Scientific journals have various ways of generating income to cover publishing, editorial, operational, peer-review, and other functional costs. Open-access journals typically charge a specific fee for article processing, known as the APC.

According to government estimates, authors in India paid nearly ₹380 crore to journal publishers as APCs in 2021. Similar to how the government negotiated a single subscription rate for all government-run higher education institutions (HEIs), it now aims to do the same for APCs. The Centre believes this approach will reduce overall costs. To achieve this, subject-specific groups of experts from participating ministries will be formed to negotiate with journals on APCs for research papers.

As for whether ONOS will also cover private HEIs, the government has not yet made a decision, sources said.