A quick look back

At the close of last year, the Global Sustainability Coalition for Open Science Services (SCOSS) officially launched - with an initial round of appeals for funding sent to institutions and libraries globally. The purpose of this new initiative, a pilot project: to help secure the vital infrastructure of services that support Open Science. Two services were presented for funding in this first round of appeals: SHERPA/RoMEO and DOAJ.

Today: A global network that’s quickly gathering strength

The academic community’s response has been positive and strong. Since the launch, more than 30 individual universities and libraries from North America, Europe and Australia have committed to funding one or both of the services via SCOSS; so too has Consortium Luxembourg, which is representing multiple libraries. In addition, approximately 20 universities in New Zealand and Australia have also expressed their intent to become funders via the Council of Australian University Librarians.

By the numbers 

As of 24 April 2018, all of this support amounts to €340,200. The goal for SHERPA/RoMEO is €1.529.935; while DOAJ is seeking €970.000. Thus far, libraries from the following countries have formally pledged funding to one or both of the services: US, Canada, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Norway, Italy, Sweden, and the Netherlands.

The SCOSS Board is pleased to see the level of concrete commitment being made by libraries internationally to sustain the world’s open science infrastructure, particularly considering that this is such a new initiative. And interest is growing. The Board is aware of numerous libraries that are considering supporting SCOSS as a means to help meet national and local Open Access goals; and as they strive to meet national policy goals, we expect even more libraries and countries to be represented among our list of global funders in future.

Last week SCOSS was on the agenda at the ICOLC (International Coalition of Library Consortia) Meeting. We know of at least 10 national consortia that are discussing funding at least one of the services. Countries are keen to take advantage of the 25% discount offered to consortia where it makes sense, but negotiating these larger scale commitments requires time.

With your commitment, the SCOSS Board hopes that SHERPA/RoMEO and DOAJ will reach their targets by the end of the year.

Spreading word of SCOSS

The coalition will be presented at two upcoming events; first up is the 39th IATUL Conference in June in Oslo, and one month later, we will be at the LIBER Conference in Lille. We hope you can make it to one of these events.

Join — the Coalition or the Network 

As the network continues to grow, we are eager to welcome new members as well as new funders. To find out more, see www.scoss.org or email us.

Your feedback 

Since SCOSS is a pilot, it is important for us to gather as much feedback as possible. We urge you to share your experiences, concerns or deliberations with funding services using the SCOSS funding model, whether you are a consortium or institution.

Please send your feedback to info@scoss.org .