Abstract:

[Purpose/Significance] Amid rising concerns over the commercialization of scholarly publishing and the financial burden of APC-based models and transformative agreements, diamond open access (Diamond OA) has gained attention as a non-profit, community-governed alternative. Current open science debates increasingly emphasize a shift from improving access to transforming the governance of knowledge production, often termed as "community over commercialization." In this context, Diamond OA is not merely a cost-free publishing option but a governance paradigm in which academic communities organize and sustain scholarly communication. This study positions Diamond OA within international discussions on open infrastructure, bibliodiversity, and equitable knowledge systems, and examines how its community-driven logic shapes goal setting, operational mechanisms, and evolutionary trends. It also explores how this governance logic generates structural tensions related to funding sustainability, infrastructural fragmentation, and evaluation regimes, with particular attention to implications for China. [Method/Process] The study employs a qualitative multi-method design integrating literature review, cross-regional case comparison, institutional analysis, and SWOT assessment. An analytical framework of "goal system - operational mechanisms - structural challenges - localization pathway" has been constructed to examine representative Diamond OA practices. Cases including SciELO, Redalyc, the Open Library of Humanities (OLH), and the Public Knowledge Project (PKP) are analyzed to identify four organizational archetypes: national or regional alliances, scholar-led community governance, technology-empowered infrastructures, and overlay publishing models. These cases illustrate how consensus decision-making, pooled resource governance, collaborative feedback, and trust-based quality control function as core operational mechanisms. The SWOT analysis further reveals the dynamic interaction between internal characteristics and external environmental conditions. [Results/Conclusions] The findings indicate that Diamond OA reorganizes scholarly publishing around community trust, shared responsibility, and public-interest orientation. It enables practices such as multilingual publishing, open peer review, and greater participation from non-English-speaking regions, thereby enhancing bibliodiversity and academic visibility. However, the model faces persistent structural constraints, including unstable funding, uneven technical capacity, and marginalization within evaluation systems dominated by commercial metrics. These challenges stem directly from its non-commercial and community-dependent nature. Internationally, Diamond OA initiatives show trends toward more structured governance networks, interoperable open infrastructures, and cross-regional collaboration. In China, despite advances in open science policy and infrastructure, Diamond OA development remains fragmented, with unclear community roles and rigid evaluation constraints. Rather than replicating international models, this study proposes a localized "four-wheel drive" framework - policy coordination, community governance, infrastructural empowerment, and evaluation reform - to integrate Diamond OA into China's scholarly communication system. This framework contributes to global discussions by demonstrating how community governance can be adapted within a state-coordinated context and offers practical guidance for developing sustainable and equitable open access practices.

Key words: diamond open access, community-driven governance, operational mechanism, open science ecosystem, open infrastructure