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Introduction to arXiv

Started in August 1991 by Paul Ginsparg, arXiv.org is internationally acknowledged as a pioneering digital archive and open access distribution service for research articles. The e-print repository, which moved to the Cornell University Library in 2001, has transformed the scholarly communication infrastructure of multiple fields of physics and plays an increasingly prominent role in mathematics, computer science, quantitative biology, quantitative finance, and statistics. arXiv is an essential component of scientific communication for many researchers worldwide in order to rapidly and widely disseminate their findings, establish priority of their discoveries, and seek feedback to help improve their work.

As of February 2017, arXiv includes over 1.2 million e-prints. During 2016, the repository saw   113,380 new submissions and over 100 million downloads from all over the world. arXiv has an international scope, with submissions and readership from around the world, and collaborations with U.S. and foreign professional societies and other international organizations. Including indirects, arXiv’s operating costs for 2017 are projected to be approximately $1.2 million, including 9 FTE staff, server maintenance, and networking.

As 2017 is the last year of the current   five-year business model , working with the Member Advisory Board (MAB), the arXiv team has created a sustainability model for 2018–2022. The purpose of the plan is to lay out a business model for arXiv including anticipated expenses, potential revenue streams, value propositions, and communication strategies. The plan entails only the regular operation of arXiv—in other words, what we call “keeping the lights on.” It should be seen as a baseline operational budget , as it does not factor in additional expenses required for R&D or new development projects such as arXiv-NG.  

What is arXiv’s financial model through 2017?

Since 2010, Cornell’s sustainability planning initiative has aimed to reduce arXiv’s financial burden and dependence on a single institution, instead creating a broad-based, community-supported resource. arXiv’s funding and governance for the current operation (Classic arXiv) is based on a membership program engaging libraries and research laboratories worldwide that represent the repository’s heaviest institutional users. CurrentlyAs of February 2017, we have 206 members   representing 25 countries. arXiv’s sustainability plan is founded on and presents a business model for generating revenues and a set of governance, editorial, and financial principles . Cornell University Library (CUL), the Simons Foundation , and a global collective of institutional members support arXiv financially. The   financial model for 2013–2017 entails three sources of revenues:

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From the users’ perspective, arXiv continues to be a successful, prominent subject repository system serving the needs of many scientists around the world. However, under the hood, the service is facing significant pressures. With significant input from the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) and the Member Advisory Board (MAB), during the 2015 annual meetings, the arXiv team reached a the conclusion that in addition to the current business model with a focus on maintenance, the arXiv team needs to embark on a significant fundraising effort, pursuing grants and collaborations. Based on the conclusions of 10 months of planning activities in 2016, the arXiv team has successfully secured a $450,000 grant from the Sloan Foundation to initiate the next-generation arXiv (arXiv-NG) initiative. The 18-month project will enable us to plan and begin to improve the architecture of this critical scientific infrastructure. We anticipate that a multi-phase design and development of a next-generation arXiv (arXiv-NG) will require approximately three years with an additional $2+ million budget, including requirements specification, evaluation of alternate strategies and partnerships, design of a new system architecture, assessment, and deployment. As we develop arXiv-NG during the next three years, we'll continue to rely on the existing system (Classic arXiv) and are committed to continue its robust services.

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In addition to supporting Classic arXiv through the membership model, Cornell University Library will continue to raise funds through grant proposals to agencies and foundations in order to fund the arXiv-NG initiative. Also, there will be some reliance on development reserve funds as needed.

What is the tier model for 2018–2022?

Note: The goal of Tier 6 is to provide an equitable and affordable fee to allow participation. Although we focus our membership drive on the top 200 institutions, we would like to encourage other libraries to contribute.

What is the purpose of the membership tier and fee revision?

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What is the value proposition of the arXiv Institutional Membership Program for libraries?

User feedback tells us that arXiv continues to be the most successful and prominent subject repository system serving the needs of scientists worldwide. A user survey was conducted in April 2016 to seek input from the global user community about the current services and future directions. We were heartened to receive 36,000 responses, representing arXiv’s diverse community. The prevailing message is that users are happy with the service as it currently stands. 95% of survey respondents said that they are very satisfied or satisfied with arXiv. Furthermore, 72% of respondents indicated that arXiv should focus on its main purpose, which is to quickly make available scientific papers, and this will be enough to sustain the value of arXiv in the future (see the survey findings ) . As you assess the value proposition of supporting arXiv, please bear in mind that a Tier 2 contribution of $3,800 is roughly equivalent to the subscription cost of one highly ranked physics journal or one APC charge in a journal like Nature Communications (with an APC of $5,200), New Journal of Physics (with an APC of $2,080), Physical Review X (with an APC of $2,900), or Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics (with an annual subscription cost of $5,740). arXiv ranks #1 in the  Ranking Web of Repositories    and arXiv sections rank as five of the top ten publications in  Google Scholar’s Top Publications in Physics and Mathematics . Aside from the knowledge that you are part of a shared investment in a culturally embedded resource providing unambiguous value to a global network of scientific researchers, here are some other reasons we would like you to become members:

• Your membership fees are essential to garner the $300,000 per year matching funds from the Simons Foundation. These funds encourage long-term community support by keeping arXiv membership fees low, making participation affordable to a broader range of institutions.

• You will be able to participate in arXiv’s ongoing governance through the Member Advisory Board, which provides input for project prioritization, new service offerings, financial planning, use of discretionary funds, future technical developments, and policy decisions.

• You will have access to enhanced institutional use statistics.

• Each member library will receive  public acknowledgement of their  financial support  both on arXiv.org and locally to the institution via an IP-generated banner. We would like to expand our strategies to make sure that scientists are aware of the role of libraries in ensuring arXiv’s sustainability. Please send us your ideas to support@arxiv.org!  

• WE NEED TO ADD MARIA’S POINT ABOUT CONTRIBUTING TO OPEN ACCESS INFRASTRUCTURE HERE suggest: Greater integration with, and implementation of, Open Access scholarship. arXiv communicates frequently with the SCOAP3 team, participates in the Open Archives Initiative (OAI), and encourages ORCiD integration for more thorough distribution of information.
  

Have you considered basing the membership model on submissions instead of downloads?

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