Can ONOS transform Indian research?

India's research ecosystem stands on the cusp of a seismic shift with the impending rollout of the One Nation, One Subscription (ONOS) scheme, a Rs 6,000-crore initiative aimed at dismantling the long-standing barriers to accessing global academic resources.

- Amit Mitra and Sourybrata Mohapatra

Boasting the promise of providing 13,000 international journals to over 6,300 institutions and nearly 18 million researchers and students, ONOS seeks to upend the narrative of restricted knowledge, which has long hampered Indian academia.

Yet, amidst the applause, one cannot help but ask: can this scheme genuinely revolutionize the Indian research landscape, or will it remain another incomplete policy, leaving many behind?

The promise of ONOS is indeed significant. For institutions that currently cannot afford subscriptions, this initiative has the potential to level the playing field.

It aligns with India's growing aspirations to enhance its research output, which saw a 54 per cent rise between 2017 and 2022, more than double the global average of 22 per cent.

India now ranks fourth globally in terms of research publication volume, producing over 1.3 million academic papers.

However, this numerical achievement is tempered by the quality and impact of the research.

India lags behind in global citation indices, ranking ninth in the world, well below peers like China, the US, and the UK.

This disparity raises critical questions about the accessibility and visibility of Indian research - a problem that ONOS can address, but only partially.

The scheme's reliance on centralized access assumes that all institutions have the means to effectively utilize these resources.

For elite institutions like the IITs, IISc, and AIIMS, which already have access to premium journals, ONOS offers a cost-saving advantage.

However, for colleges and universities in tier-2 and tier-3 cities, the challenges run deeper.