SCOSS Campaign: DOAB/OAPEN reaches important funding milestone

The Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB) and OAPEN, jointly part of SCOSS’s second funding cycle, has met a significant milestone by reaching its three-year funding goal of 505,000 Euros in about 18 months, despite the COVID-19 challenge. SCOSS and DOAB/OAPEN would like to express their gratitude towards its global funding community of 89 institutions from 14 countries that have contributed to this campaign. Ahead lies now the challenge for DOAB/OAPEN to sustain this crucial financial support from the community.

“Starting our SCOSS journey early in 2020, we are thrilled to have reached our SCOSS target by now and wish to thank all contributing institutions for their support of our services. Despite pressing times, the libraries and consortia across the world have stepped up and demonstrated their interest in sustaining non-profit and affordable open infrastructures for books, benefiting the scholarly community and society at large. We look forward to continuing our engagement with these institutions and the community at large towards a long-term success for open access to books” said Niels Stern, Director of OAPEN and Co-director of DOAB.

Following in the footsteps of the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) in 2020, DOAB/OAPEN are now the second SCOSS endorsed Open Science Infrastructure that has successfully reached its target. This milestone exemplifies the staunch will and commitment of a growing number of institutions worldwide to create a viable pathway for Open Science Infrastructure to remain non-profit, community-driven and truly open.

“Investing in considerable community engagement activities was a strategic decision right from the outset of DOAB and OAPEN’s relationship with SCOSS; this was commendable.’’ said Vanessa Proudman, Director of SPARC Europe, and SCOSS Executive Group Chair. "The focus on building partnerships with its users and funders and great strengths in communication have been critical for DOAB and OAPEN’s success in solidifying their path to sustainability and to maintain their status as a strong and highly used Open Science infrastructures.”

While DOAB and OAPEN can now proudly call themselves SCOSS campaign successful graduates, reaching this milestone is just a first step on a long journey of building meaningful, long-lasting relationships with their supporting institutions.