On September 9th, we welcomed Fabian Hennig to present the KOALA program – an innovative initiative designed to fund Diamond open access journals. This webinar, targeted at university library and research center staff, explored how the KOALA project fits within the Diamond open access landscape, examined the selection criteria for thematic journal bundles, and showcased journals eligible for funding from 2026-2028.
Diversifying Funding for the Diamond Open Access Model
R. Tournoy opened by emphasizing that the Diamond OA model – which is free for both authors and readers – requires diverse funding sources to sustain its infrastructure. Beyond the cost efficiencies gained through resource pooling in its overlay model, Episciences operations depend on several funding streams:
- Core institutional support from CCSD’s parent organizations (CNRS, Inria, Inrae) ;
- Project-based grants (European funding, National Fund for Open Science (FNSO), etc.) ;
- Institutional contributions from universities, either one-time or recurring, potentially coordinated through consortia like Couperin consortium or SCOSS ;
- Journal-specific funding through programs like KOALA.
The KOALA program thus aims to enhance Diamond open access funding by introducing journal-level financial support.
KOALA’s Consortial Approach: Encouraging Library Investment in Quality Open Science Journals
F. Hennig explained how the program streamlines the identification of eligible journals while providing administrative frameworks for institutions to allocate dedicated funding.
Selection criteria for thematic bundles align with Plan S requirements and the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing, organized across four key areas:
- Copyright and licensing: Rights retention policies, CC BY licensing
- Technical standards: ISSN registration, persistent identifiers, metadata quality, indexing
- Financial transparency: No author processing charges (APCs), clear funding models
- Editorial integrity: Rigorous peer review, qualified editorial boards, content quality
Bundle funding operates through a tiered system based on institutional size and type, with annual contributions ranging from €200 to €2,000 per complete bundle (in the case of the current Mathematics 2026-2028 bundle). Institutions commit to three-year agreements, receiving a single annual invoice from TIB (Leibniz University Library’s Center for Scientific and Technical Information) to streamline budget management. This arrangement guarantees journals three years of stable funding, typically used for professional copyediting, typesetting, proofreading, and dissemination activities.
Strengthening French Research Through KOALA
Program statistics demonstrate KOALA’s significant support for French scholarship, with French authors representing 7% of all publications in supported journals. This proportion reaches an impressive 25% in the most recent Mathematics bundle.
The 2026-2028 Mathematics Bundle encompasses four journals publishing approximately 190 papers annually:
- Journal of Groups, complexity, cryptology (jGCC)
- Journal of Nonsmooth Analysis and Optimization (JNSAO)
- Annales Henri Lebesgue
- Comptes Rendus Mathématique
All four journals utilize French publishing infrastructure: the first two operate on the Episciences platform (CCSD – CNRS/Inria/Inrae), while the latter two are published through Centre Mersenne (UGA-CNRS).
Championing Open Science Values
KOALA selection validates journals’ commitment to open science principles and their publishing platforms. The Journal of Groups, Complexity, Cryptology exemplifies this dedication by leaving a commercial publisher to escape the APC model. Editor-in-Chief Murray Elder explains:
« For ten years the journal operated with a traditional commercial publisher, where the Editorial Board and voluntary peer-reviewers handled the scientific content of the journal, and the publisher managed the website, submissions and final versions of the papers. In 2019 the publisher wished to move to an author-pays model, so the Editorial Board decided to find an alternative way to continue the journal. After searching various options we arrived at Episciences and the overlay model, which would provide diamond open access for our papers, handle our web presence, submission and processing requirements, with the Editorial Board and volunteer reviewers maintaining a comparable effort.
We are extremely happy with the service Episciences provides, and our journal has continued. One issue that has recently resolved was maintaining indexing of the journal by Scopus and Clarivate Web of Science. It took several years for these (commercial) services to recognise the journal. »
Christian Clason, Managing editor of JNSAO, emphasizes that editorial independence and academic control remain fundamental principles for his team:
« What I like about episciences — besides the overlay model — is how well the project aligns with our own ideas for putting academic publishing back into academic hands: It’s a publicly funded scientific infrastructure project (I am really grateful for the French government for setting this up and supporting it long before it became obvious that commercial publishing is a major problem), developed as open source, and run by people who are clearly passionate about diamond open access publishing. »
Getting Involved
TIB (German National Library of Science and Technology) and KIM (Communication, Information, Media Centre of the University of Konstanz). launched the KOALA project in 2021. The program now supports approximately twenty journals, with five published on the Episciences platform.