How can we ensure that Diamond Open Access becomes the definitive standard for scientific publishing? Fortunately, there are many projects pursuing this goal. A number of them are working at the European level, but many focus on the situation in individual countries and the scientific communities there. In this line of national focused initiatives, a new project started on 1 May 2025. The „Service Point for Diamond Open Access“, or SeDOA for short. It is a consortium of 15 project partners, all of whom come from the German scientific community. The project is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and will run for two three-year periods.

What sets SeDOA apart is its dual approach. On the one hand, it focuses on the research landscape in Germany, while on the other hand, it sees itself as a Diamond Capacity Center (DCC) and is part of the European and international network for Diamond Open Access. This makes SeDOA an interesting project from a European perspective, as it not only promotes Diamond Open Access but also provides impetus for OA structures at the European level and in other European countries. In the same way, the German research landscape should take up suggestions from other countries and communities. In this sense, SeDOA is an organisation that creates solutions for the communities of practice in Germany, but also takes actively part in the European and international community of Diamond OA.

SeDOA’s approach is characterized by its commitment to addressing the entire scientific landscape, rather than just individual disciplines or subject groups. This is reflected in its relatively large consortium of 15 partners, which ensures that as many scientific disciplines as possible are included and represented. The consortium also aims to be active across the entire scientific landscape, reflecting the great diversity in the individual research areas. The diversity also stretches into the infrastructure landscape: In Germany, there are not only OA-infrastructure projects and services at the universities and research institutions, but also at the federal and state level. The Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Universitätsverlage (Working Group of University Publishers), is an infrastructure-partner for OA publishing based at various universities throughout

Germany. They connect and represent different research communities. The researchers themselves need to be our main focus, especially being authors and editors at the same time. This approach refers to the understanding of Diamond Open Access supporting scholarly led and scholarly owned journals. Overall, SeDOA represents communities of practice to which the consortium is open in all their diversity.

In terms of content, SeDOA is primarily concerned with journals, but also takes into account monographs. From a technological perspective, there is a fundamental openness to different software solutions, such as OJS and Janeway for journals, and OMP and CMS-based approaches (e.g. Drupal) for monographs. The differences already reflect the diversity that has emerged in the different subject areas.

SeDOA will build on the solutions that already exist in the digital publishing landscape in Germany. A central concern is to combine and coordinate the existing resources. The consortium thus acts as a single point of contact that organises the appropriate solutions for needs in the Diamond OA area. While standardization may be a consideration, it will not be the primary focus. Instead, the consortium will prioritize finding a suitable technical solution for identified requests for OA publishing, with quality being the main criterion.
To achieve this, SeDOA will have a technical work package, as well as a work package that provides information on open access publishing to the growing community. Additionally, there will be practice- oriented training unit that educates users of Diamond OA publication workflows and help them to grow. Ideally, this is a dynamic process that contributes to the continuous improvement of workflows in digital publishing.

The dynamics of further development in the Diamond OA area will also be promoted by an innovation lab in the SeDOA project. This will provide solutions for needs that have not yet been satisfactorily addressed, as well as take up inspiration for new ideas from the communities of practice and integrate them into the existing workflows.

The challenges are considerable, even with just the measures described so far. However, the European level should always be considered, as it is an anchor and reference point that ensures that the solutions for the communities of practice can also be scaled to the European level. This applies to the technical solutions, as well as to the training and further education measures. In this context the SeDOA innovation lab needs to be aligned with similar approaches at the European level, such as the innovation lab of the OPERAS research infrastructure.

SeDOA’s effort and work will enforce and support the results of the European Diamond Capacity Hub (EDCH) and at the same time add its own part to these outcomes. While it is true that in some respects the work as a Diamond Capacity Centre represents a significant expansion of tasks for SeDOA as a national project, the common results are worth the effort. It is expected that the exchange between the European level, i.e. the EDCH and SeDOA as a DCC, will generate a new dynamic that will make it easier to establish Diamond OA as a standard internationally, at least in the medium term.

SeDOA is not starting from scratch, as there is a lot of preparatory work and many established connections through various projects (CRAFT-OA, PALOMERA, DIAMAS, etc.) that have been running in advance. SeDOA representatives are now also represented in all EDCH task forces, providing very concrete personal connections between the European level and the consortium in Germany.

Even before the proper start of the SeDOA, the consortium had been addressed by various stakeholders who had voiced their interest in participating in the project and/or using the solutions SeDOA will provide. Although this is a very good sign indeed, SeDOA evidently has to manage expectations in order not to disappoint potential cooperators. A few internal guidelines will help to meet these challenges:

• putting up a decentralised structure, thus bringing the services to the people, not dragging the people to the services;
• though standards are important, for the time being one size does not fit all: all disciplines should be addressed appropriately;
• training opportunities are crucial in order to ensure quality which
• is necessary to enhance the reputation of DOA publications;
• last but not least: some quick results will be necessary, so that SeDOA will be visible and fuel the DOA movement.

All in all, the dual approach of SeDOA working for the German communities of practice and acting as a DCC for Europe offers a special opportunity: the German level can be seen as an example for solutions but also risks, challenges and failure and vice versa for the European level, while at the same time existing solutions and innovations developed at European level can be reused on the national level. SeDOA does not just invite you to watch, but to participate: the reflections of the diamond should be equally visible in Germany and in Europe.