Journals that used to be free — and no longer are
Diamond open access is not permanent. Journals leave it: a society hands its title to a commercial publisher, a subsidy ends, and a journal that charged nothing starts charging an APC. This is a record of those transitions, so a "free" journal you remember is checked before you rely on it.
440 journals in this tracker left diamond open access. If you are choosing a journal because it was free, confirm it still is — the fee often appears with no announcement.
Recent transitions
| Journal | Field | Free until | Now |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recent Advances in Biology and Medicine | Life Sciences | 2025 | $50 · Hybrid OA |
| Pulmonology | Health Sciences | 2024 | $2,630 · Gold OA |
| PLASMATOLOGY | Health Sciences | 2024 | $1,500 · Hybrid OA |
| LONTAR JURNAL TEKNIK MESIN UNDANA | Physical Sciences | 2025 | $12 · Gold OA |
| Нервно-мышечные болезни | Health Sciences | 2025 | now charges a fee · Closed |
| Опухоли головы и шеи | Health Sciences | 2025 | now charges a fee · Closed |
| Успехи молекулярной онкологии | Life Sciences | 2025 | now charges a fee · Closed |
| Онкоурология | Health Sciences | 2025 | now charges a fee · Closed |
| Klinicist | Health Sciences | 2025 | now charges a fee · Closed |
| International journal of educational development in Africa | Social Sciences | 2024 | $533 · Gold OA |
| Russian Journal of Economics | Social Sciences | 2025 | $1,009 · Gold OA |
| Jurnal Media Elektro | Physical Sciences | 2022 | $18 · Gold OA |
| Jurnal Sains Terapan Pariwisata | Social Sciences | 2024 | $30 · Gold OA |
| Semah | Physical Sciences | 2020 | $21 · Gold OA |
| Early Childhood Education and Development Studies | nan | 2024 | $9 · Gold OA |
| Maritime Park | Physical Sciences | 2024 | $48 · Gold OA |
| Health technologies | Health Sciences | 2023 | $100 · Gold OA |
| MAAUN International Multi Disciplinary Journal of Research and Innovation | Social Sciences | 2024 | now charges a fee · Gold OA |
| Ambiente Construído | Physical Sciences | 2024 | $127 · Gold OA |
| ANIMAL NUTRIOMICS | Life Sciences | 2024 | $2,000 · Gold OA |
| NEUROIMMUNE PHARMACOLOGY AND THERAPEUTICS | Life Sciences | 2024 | $1,771 · Gold OA |
| THE CROP JOURNAL | Life Sciences | 2019 | $1,890 · Gold OA |
| FRONTIERS OF ARCHITECTURAL RESEARCH | Physical Sciences | 2019 | $1,500 · Gold OA |
| PROPULSION AND POWER RESEARCH | Physical Sciences | 2019 | $1,000 · Gold OA |
| OSTEOPOROSIS AND SARCOPENIA | Health Sciences | 2023 | $500 · Gold OA |
| ANIMAL NUTRITION | Life Sciences | 2019 | $1,462 · Gold OA |
| Genes and Diseases | Life Sciences | 2021 | $2,500 · Gold OA |
| INTERNATIONAL SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION RESEARCH | Life Sciences | 2019 | $1,200 · Gold OA |
| JOURNAL OF MAGNESIUM AND ALLOYS | Physical Sciences | 2019 | $1,500 · Gold OA |
| SERIEs | Social Sciences | 2023 | $2,790 · Hybrid OA |
A sample of the most recent transitions. "Free until" is the last year the journal was recorded as diamond. Confirm the current fee on the journal's own page before submitting.
Source
Data from the Diamond Fractures project — Matthias, Alperin & Laakso (2026). Diamond Fractures: Tracing Journal Transitions Away from Diamond Open Access. ScholCommLab.. Reproduced with attribution; see the project's dataset landing page for licence and full records. JournalFees does not assert current fees from this historical set — each is a signal to re-check, not a live price.