India has launched a national scientific journal access initiative called the One Nation One Subscription initiative. The program will provide free access to nearly 13,000 academic journals for approximately 18 million students, faculty, and researchers across the country.
The deal, valued at $715 million over three years, involves 30 global publishers including Elsevier, Springer, Nature and Wiley. Experts such as Devika Madalli from the Information and Library Network Center believe India has secured a favorable agreement.
The initiative will benefit 6,300 government-funded institutions that produce nearly half of India’s research papers. Currently, only about 2,300 of these institutions have subscriptions to 8,000 journals. The new arrangement will expand access, particularly for less-funded universities and specialist institutes.
A notable aspect of the deal is that it will also cover article-processing charges (APCs), which typically cost up to $2,000 per article globally. This could help Indian scholars overcome financial barriers to publishing in international journals. Rahul Siddharthan from the Institute of Mathematical Sciences welcomed this aspect of the agreement.
The deal is unprecedented in its scope, surpassing similar national agreements in countries such as Germany and the United Kingdom. It reflects India’s commitment to enhancing research accessibility and supporting its growing scientific community.
Last updated: December 26th, 2025
