Subscribe To Success: Cabinet Approves One Nation, One Subscription (ONOS) Scheme!

In these times when every individual's digital activity is skyrocketing and we have a subscription model for almost everything, from entertainment to groceries, the Indian government came up with an innovative question: “While there are subscriptions for audiobooks and ebooks, can there be a subscription model for academic journals?”

Taking a proactive approach for the same, the union government of India recently approved an innovative scheme for India’s research scholars, The One Nation, One Subscription (ONOS) Scheme. Let’s read more about it. 

What is One Nation, One Subscription (ONOS)? 

The concept of the ONOS scheme was first introduced in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and recently got approved by the cabinet for three years, i.e., 2025, 2026 and 2028. The plan is to offer seamless access to various academic journals to research scholars, and academicians. Further, with ONOS the government aims to bridge the accessibility gap between Tier-1, Tier-2 & Tier-3 cities, with respect to academic or research journals across diverse fields. 

The regulatory authority designated for the ONOS is the INFLIBNET (Information and Library Network) Centre, an autonomous body under the University Grants Commission (UGC). 

Features and Benefits of ONOS

1. ONOS will offer access to approximately 13,000 prominent research and academic journals from the top 30 international publications, closely chosen by the government. This will elevate India’s academic excellence in higher education and research. Some of the prominent names expected to be part of the selected publications include Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley Blackwell, Taylor & Francis, and Oxford University Press.

2. This scheme will reduce the hassle of conventional ‘Pay-to-read’ models of universities, institutions and libraries, asking a hefty amount of money to read specific journals, thus contributing to widening the accessibility gap. To fix the same, ONOS will cover about 6300 higher-education institutions, benefiting about 1.8 crores of research scholars and academicians to empower the HEIs with democratised access to top-quality academic resources. 

3. Through ONOS, the government also aims to eradicate unethical practices like journal duplication and unfair pricing, by offering access to all the content within a reasonable and standardised subscription fee to the HEIs.

Who will benefit from the ONOS scheme?

The scheme is primarily aimed at serving the students, research scholars, and faculty of higher education institutions across India. 

How can research scholars and other beneficiaries access ONOS?

Although the government has not given any clarity on the precise format of applying for the scheme, it has been revealed that the ONOS scheme will be implemented via a fully digital ONOS platform managed by INFLIBNET, the functioning of which will begin from January 1, 2025. So, all the researchers, scholars and faculties interested to avail the benefits of the scheme can keep their hopes up for the same. 

Should you be interested in ONOS?

If you are someone pursuing higher studies/research work or planning to do the same in the coming years, ONOS is a bright and exciting innovation that you must keep looking forward to. This subscription will not only save you money but also your time, giving you easy one-stop access to the best of the world of research.