Academic content to be accessible in India with one subscription
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New Delhi: The Indian government is planning to implement an initiative - One Nation One Subscription (ONOS) - to make scientific and academic research papers accessible to everyone. The Ministry of Education (MoE) will make journal publications available for everyone in India from April 1, 2023.
The core committee is considering 70 publishers' resources for the first phase of ONOS based on the Planning and Execution Committee's recommendations. Colleges, universities, research organisations, other educational institutions, and individuals can make use of the initiative.
The ONOS intends to sign national licences with most of the prominent STEM publishers and database producers of the world whose contents are already being subscribed by various institutions of higher education and research organisations either directly or through Government-funded consortia, said an official statement from the ministry.
Higher education secretary K Sanjay Murthy stated in his letter to directors of Centrally Funded Technical Institutes and vice-chancellors of central universities said: "Your support is solicited towards this initiative by ensuring that the renewals of e-resources from the list of 70 publishers are synchronised with the ONOS activities."
"It is requested that the renewal of e-resources from these 70 publishers for the calendar year 2023 may be put on hold till such time that the negotiations are underway. Specific updates on the ONOS activities including negotiations with these 70 publishers would be provided on or before 15th December 2022," he added.
Research from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Department of Science and Technology (DST), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEiTY), and Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) are part of the initiative.