A recent analysis by Beigel et al. (2025) confirms what many in the research community have long suspected: commercial publishing continues to drain the research ecosystem of money, time, trust, and control. Despite years of Open Access policies and reforms, the core problems remain unchanged.
Yet, when we read their findings with a forward-looking mindset, one conclusion becomes unavoidable: we already have an effective antidote to this drain — preprints.
Why Preprints Stand Apart
Commercial publishers have turned scholarly communication into a revenue-driven industry. Preprints cut through this machinery entirely. They are built on a simple, community-first philosophy that aligns perfectly with Diamond Open Access principles:
- No fees for authors or readers — true Diamond OA.
- Immediate visibility — research shared today, not months or years later.
- Open to refinement — science treated as an evolving conversation.
This is the complete opposite of the closed, slow, and commercially driven journal ecosystem outlined by Beigel et al. (2025).
Learning in Public Makes Research Stronger
A preprint is not a frozen “version of record.” That is precisely its strength.
Preprints invite critique, correction, and refinement while the research is still active. This mirrors older scholarly traditions where sharing drafts, receiving feedback, and improving work were natural parts of research culture.
Once a journal locks a paper into a final version, this flexibility vanishes. Preprints bring it back.
A Practical Route Around the Publishing Oligopoly
One of the major concerns highlighted by Beigel et al. (2025) is the concentration of power in the hands of a few multinational publishers — who now control not just journals, but even research evaluation tools.
Preprints undercut this dominance.
Platforms such as IndiaRxiv, agriRxiv, arXiv, bioRxiv, and medRxiv operate as community-owned knowledge commons, not corporate assets. They distribute research without contributing to the oligopoly’s metrics, paywalls, or profit structures.
This is the equitable infrastructure that Diamond OA has always aspired to build.
Why Preprints Matter
Preprints offer what other Open Access models struggle to deliver:
- Free for authors and readers — genuine Diamond OA.
- Immediate dissemination — no unnecessary delays.
- Continuous improvement through community feedback.
- Independence from commercial publishers and their incentives.
Preprints make science visible on Day 1, not Year 2.
Fair, Fast, and Equitable
Preprints democratize access to knowledge and visibility in ways that APC-based systems cannot. They level the playing field for:
- Researchers without publishing budgets
- Early-career scientists seeking timely recognition
- Scholars in emerging or interdisciplinary fields
- Researchers in countries where APCs exceed monthly salaries
Preprints: Path to Diamond Open Access
Preprints are the strongest expression of Diamond OA because they embody everything the model stands for: openness, fairness, community control, and zero cost.
Preprints return control of scholarship to the research community — where it rightfully belongs.
Time to Treat Preprints as Central, Not Peripheral
Most importantly:
If we want to address the drain that Beigel et al. (2025) describe, preprints cannot be treated as mere additions to the existing system. They must become the core of a re-communalized scholarly communication ecosystem.
We do not have to wait for commercial publishing to reform itself.
We simply need to strengthen what already works.
Evaluators, funders, institutions, and research communities should:
- Recognize preprints in assessment
- Cite them confidently
- Encourage early sharing
- Integrate preprints into standard workflows
- Support local and community-governed preprint servers
IndiaRxiv: A Community Infrastructure for India
IndiaRxiv provides a no-cost, community-owned platform for researchers across India to share their work openly. It is especially valuable for early-career scientists and those in institutions where APCs are unrealistic or unavailable.
This is exactly the kind of infrastructure needed to build a healthier, more equitable scholarly ecosystem.
Building a Better Scholarly Ecosystem
If we want a publishing system that serves research rather than draining it, preprints must be embraced confidently and systematically. The tools, platforms, and community momentum already exist.
The Bottom Line
Preprints already deliver what Diamond OA promises: fast, fair, community-driven access to knowledge. They are not the future of scholarly communication — they are the present.
It’s time we leaned into them. Let’s use them boldly.
Reference
Beigel, F., Brockington, D., Crosetto, P., Derrick, G., Fyfe, A., Barreiro, P. G., Hanson, M. A., Haustein, S., Larivière, V., Noe, C., Pinfield, S., & Wilsdon, J. (2025). The drain of scientific publishing. arXiv (Cornell University). https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2511.04820