THE EUROPEAN DICHOTOMY OF FUNDING SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS IN THE CONTEXT OF OPEN SCIENCE

Abstract

Sustainable financing of scholarly journals is paramount for fostering Open Science principles and ensuring the integrity and accessibility of research results. The European landscape presents a critical evolution in funding models, driven by rising subscription costs and the dominance of commercial publishers. This study conducts a comparative analysis of European national funding mechanisms, identifying a fundamental dichotomy: Indirect, APC-oriented models (e.g., Poland’s NCN, Czechia’s GACR), which shift the financial burden from readers to authors/institutions and primarily benefit large commercial entities; and Direct, operational support models focused on Diamond Open Access (DOA) journals. Strategic pan-European initiatives, such as Plan S and the European Commission’s Open Research Europe (ORE), actively catalyze this shift towards non-commercial, publicly financed DOA infrastructure, prioritizing collective governance and editorial autonomy (exemplified by Serbia, Finland’s TSV, and France’s FNSO). The theoretical significance lies in defining pathways for sustainable scholarly communication outside commercial dependency.