DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17897299
title: ALMASI Dataset of Diamond Open Access Journals

description: ALMASI Diamond Open Access Journal Dataset README (Version 1.0)

1.  Title of the Dataset: ALMASI Dataset of Diamond Open Access Journals: ISSN, Titles, and Geographical Distribution

2.  Description: This dataset contains a curated list of Diamond Open Access journals identified for the bibliometric mapping conducted within the ALMASI Project’s forthcoming D1.1 Scoping Report. The dataset includes four metadata fields:



Journal title

ISSN

Publishing country

Continent (region assignment)


It provides a foundational geographic overview of nonprofit Diamond OA journal publishing across Africa, Europe, and Latin America, forming the empirical basis of the report’s bibliometric analysis. 

3.  File Format



Filename: Open_dataset.csv

Format: CSV

Encoding: UTF-8

Delimiter: Comma

Variables: 4

Rows: 20,355


4.  Variables



issn: Standard ISSN assigned to the journal

journal_title: Full title of the Diamond OA journal

country: Country in which the journal’s publisher is based

continent: Regional assignment (Africa, Europe, Latin America)


5.  Methodology

The dataset was produced using the methodological workflow documented in the forthcoming ALMASI D1.1 Scoping Report, including:

5.1. Data Integration



Aggregation of openly available sources including regional infrastructures and international bibliographic databases

Harmonisation of heterogeneous metadata


5.2. Identifying Diamond OA Journals



Removal of all APC-charging journals

Verification of OA status when possible

Assignment of institutional or scholar-led nonprofit publicationmodels


5.3. Standardisation Procedures



ISSN validation and formatting

Deduplication across sources

Consolidation of country and region metadata


5.4. Additional Metadata Collection 

The Scoping Report provides extended descriptive analyses on indexing coverage, publisher types, publication languages, and preservation practices. These analyses were generated directly from this dataset.

6.  Intended Use: This dataset may be used for:



Replicating or extending the ALMASI bibliometric analysis

Regional comparative studies of Diamond OA ecosystems

Mapping the geographic footprint of nonprofit publishing

Supporting policy, evaluation, or scholarly communication research


7.  Licensing: This dataset is released under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). Users may share and adapt the material with appropriate credit.

8.  Citation: A full recommended citation will be added once the D1.1 Scoping Report is publicly released. Suggested provisional citation: Taşkın, Z., & Laakso, M. (2025). ALMASI Diamond Open Access Journal Dataset [Data set].

9.  Related Document (Forthcoming): ALMASI D1.1 Scoping Report

This dataset underpins the bibliometric analysis presented in the final section of the forthcoming Scoping Report. The report:



Establishes conceptual and analytical foundations for the ALMASI project

Synthesises organisational, infrastructural, and policy landscapes of Diamond OA across regions 

Presents the methodological pipeline that produced this dataset

Discusses regional asymmetries, documentation gaps, indexing challenges, and policy implications


10. Authors



Zehra Taşkın, TSV (Federation of Finnish Learned Societies)

Mikael Laakso, TSV (Federation of Finnish Learned Societies)


11. Contributors



Iryna Kuchma, EIFL

Milica Ševkušić, EIFL


12. Contact: For inquiries regarding the dataset: Zehra Taşkın, email: zehrayanar@gmail.com 

13. Version Information

Version 1.0 (2025).

Initial public release accompanying the ALMASI project’s bibliometric mapping.

14. Limitations



No manual verification of individual journal records was conducted

Some journals lack complete or reliable metadata due to uneven documentation across regions

Indexing coverage varies significantly by region

The dataset captures only journals identified as Diamond OA at the time of compilation

Journal business models or OA statuses may have changed since data collection


15. Reproducibility: The Scoping Report provides full details for reconstructing the dataset, including source lists, filtering criteria, and validation procedures.