Help ensure a strong and stable future for OpenCitations by becoming a member of OpenCitations.
By supporting OpenCitations, you will help us to:
Increase the number of open bibliographic metadata and citation data available;
Improve our software and hardware infrastructure to provide better services;
Engage with new partners interested in using and sharing open citation data.
OpenCitations is an independent infrastructure organisation for open scholarship dedicated to the publication of open bibliographic and citation data. It also provides open source software and free services for use by the global academic community and the general public, and is engaged in advocacy for open citations and open scholarly metadata, particularly in its role as a key founding member of the Initiative for Open Citations (I4OC).
The Global Sustainability Coalition for Open Science Services (SCOSS), which facilitates funding to help ensure the sustainability of the world’s Open Science infrastructure, has selected OpenCitations, together with two other open infrastructure services, as worthy of community crowdfunding support in its second funding cycle. In evaluating OpenCitations among all the applicants, the SCOSS Board concluded that OpenCitations:
aligns well with open science goals;
provides an innovative service of open citation data;
could be a game changer, challenging established proprietary citation services;
supports change in research assessment;
is infrastructure at risk and in need of financial sustainability.
With the launch of its second funding cycle, SCOSS is appealing to academic institutions and their libraries, research institutes, scholarly publishers, funding organisations, national and regional governments, international organisations, learned societies and academic service providers worldwide — everyone who is involved in Open Access and Open Science — to support OpenCitations through a three-year commitment.
OpenCitations is managed by the Research Centre for Open Scholarly Metadata of the University of Bologna. This permits OpenCitations to use the professional administrative services of the University to manage financial donations for OpenCitations.
Legal entities may apply to become Members of OpenCitations. The steps to undertake are:
Read the Memorandum of Understanding, and the two additional documents describing the Rules of Membership and the Organizational Bodies and Finances of OpenCitations.
Send a written request to the Directors of OpenCitations, at the email address membership@opencitations.net, in which the candidate declares:
its details, legal nature, legal address, and legal representative;
its wish to become a Member of and to collaborate with OpenCitations;
its commitment to the principles of Open Science;
its commitment to contribute financially (specifying the amount of the contribution) to the operating costs of OpenCitations and to assist in the implementation of its goals, according to the level of membership participation (Supporting Membership, Development Membership, Strategic Membership) briefly outlined below;
the conflicts of interests of the legal representative (please use the CoI module and attach it to the email), in which he/she documents any interests that compete with the purposes of OpenCitations (if any).
After a positive decision by the Directors of OpenCitations returned by written communication via email, the legal representative of the candidate signs the Memorandum of Understanding and sends it back to the Directors of OpenCitations, at the email address membership@opencitations.net.
After the Memorandum of Understanding has been signed also by OpenCitations, it is returned by email to the candidate, which formally becomes a new member of OpenCitations. Information to submit the agreed financial contribution is provided as well.
Upon receiving the financial contribution, OpenCitations delivers appropriate receipts to the new member.
The three levels of OpenCitations membership are:
1) Supporting Membership: financial contribution of at least € 500 and no more than € 8,000 per year for three years at the start of each membership year, or to make a single up-front contribution of at least €1,500 and no more than € 24,000. Such contributions vary according to the size and type of the Party, as set out in the SCOSS OpenCitations flyer. A Supporting Member shall:
have voting rights on the OpenCitations Council;
have voting rights to elect candidates to serve on the International Advisory Board for OpenCitations;
have its name and membership level displayed on the OpenCitations website;
have access to a yearly webinar giving updates of OpenCitations activities and plans for the future;
receive the biannual reports summarizing the progress and status of OpenCitations;
have access to general information from OpenCitations, including the annual financial reports.
2) Development Membership: financial contribution of more than € 8,000 and less than € 30,000 per year for three years at the start of each membership year, or to make a single up-front contribution of more than € 24,000 and less than € 90,000. A Development Member shall:
have all of the above-mentioned rights of Supporting Membership; plus
participate in an annual survey and share feedback on the OpenCitations infrastructure and services;
have its name, membership level and logo displayed on the OpenCitations website;
have the right for one representative to participate without registration fee in the biennial Workshop on Open Citations and Open Scholarly Metadata organized by OpenCitations;
have the right to contribute a blog post about itself and its use of OpenCitations services and data, to be published on the OpenCitations blog.
3) Strategic Membership: financial contribution of at least € 30,000 per year for three years at the start of each membership year, or to make a single up-front contribution of at least € 90,000. A Strategic Member shall:
have all of the above-mentioned rights of Development Membership; plus
be entitled to a single seat with voting rights on the International Advisory Board for OpenCitations.
If it is not possible for your institution to apply for a membership, you can help now by committing to fund the OpenCitations infrastructure via a donation. SCOSS recommends that organisations pledge an annual donation for a period of three years, as shown in the SCOSS OpenCitations flyer, in which suggested funding levels vary according to the size and type of the organisation. Pledging for the full term of three years will provide OpenCitations with a secure financial foundation on our path to complete financial sustainability. Your pledge can either be paid in one lump sum, up-front, or on an annual basis.
For more details and guidance about how you can help support OpenCitations through a donation, please contact us directly at donations@opencitations.net.