OpenCitations’ renewed compliance with the Principles of Open Scholarly Infrastructure (April 2026)

OpenCitations has formally adopted the Principles of Open Scholarly Infrastructure (POSI) since its first self-assessment in August 2021. At that time, we had only recently been included in the SCOSS funding round and, although we had a clear vision of what we wanted to build and the role we wanted to play within the Open Science ecosystem, both our financial and human resources were still very limited. For this reason, the POSI self-assessment proved to be an important exercise, since it allowed us to critically reflect on both the strengths we could build upon and the weaknesses we needed to address as we developed OpenCitations into a sustainable, community-governed Open Science infrastructure. 

That first assessment highlighted some key areas of attention. In particular, it highlighted the limited executive power of the community bodies involved in governance, as well as challenges related to long-term financial sustainability, particularly the ability to generate and manage financial surpluses. 

Between 2021 and 2026, OpenCitations has evolved significantly, becoming a more complex infrastructure by expanding both the services it offers and the number of data sources it integrates. During this period, we have also expanded our team, worked on the development of a container-based infrastructure, and relaunched our governance framework. 

These developments made it necessary to update our POSI self-assessment. This update is also timely, given the recent release of POSI Version 2 in October 2025. The new version of the principles is the result of a collective effort by POSI adopters and includes several clarifications to existing principles (for example, around the concept of lobbying and the distinction between transparent governance and transparent operations). In addition, new principles have been introduced to better reflect how scholarly infrastructures operate within the broader research ecosystem. 

We are therefore happy to share our updated POSI self-assessment, which provides a comprehensive snapshot of OpenCitations as of April 2026. At the same time, it represents a renewed declaration of our commitment to the POSI principles. 

Disclaimer. As with many early POSI adopters, our previous assessment used a traffic-light system to indicate the level of alignment with each principle. In this system: 

• Green indicates that the principle is fully met and evidenced in practice. 

• Yellow indicates that the principle is partially met, with active steps underway to achieve full alignment. 

• Red indicates that the principle is not currently met, or that compliance is not feasible. 

During the POSI Version 2 working group discussions, it emerged that the use of this traffic-light system is not mandatory for POSI self-assessments. Nevertheless, we have decided to maintain this approach, as we believe it remains particularly effective as a communication tool and, at the same time, ensures continuity with our previous assessment. We have, however, taken the liberty of adding one more element: a symbol to indicate where we were already “green” in 2021, but have further improved our performance. 

The symbol is therefore a “plus” placed next to the green traffic light.

Coverage across the scholarly enterprise

OpenCitations demonstrates broad coverage by collecting citation data from global scholarship, ensuring representation across disciplines, geographic areas, and research communities. The scope of OpenCitations’ coverage is universal, not limited to a particular scholarly domain, nor to the English language, nor restricted by imposed acceptance criteria.

Stakeholder governed

Governance is structured to reflect the stakeholder community, with the International Advisory Board elected by the Council of members and responsible for approving the Trustee Network. For more information: https://opencitations.net/governance/ 

Non-discriminatory participation or membership

Membership is open to all individuals and organisations that support Open Science principles, enabling inclusive and non-discriminatory participation in line with OpenCitations’ founding values.

Transparent governance

OpenCitations maintains a high level of transparency by publicly documenting its organisational structure, governance processes, and decision-making procedures. Reports and relevant documentation are shared with the community, including annual reports and the Rules of Membership and Organizational Bodies.

Cannot lobby

OpenCitations does not engage in political or financial lobbying activities. Its role remains focused on supporting the scholarly community without pursuing regulatory changes that would advantage its own position.

Living will

A clear long-term stewardship strategy is in place, ensuring that data, services, and infrastructure can be responsibly transferred if needed. This is supported by a recently implemented fully replicable technical infrastructure and a new governance model designed to facilitate handover thanks to the presence of the Trustee Network, which is capable of appointing new hosting members to physically and administratively host the infrastructure.

Regular review of purpose and community value

OpenCitations has recently monitored its relevance and community value through mechanisms such as community surveys. In addition, it has established governance and technical strategies to support a responsible wind-down process, including, if necessary, the transfer of assets and infrastructure through its Trustee Network. Additionally, the Trustee Network is responsible for regularly monitoring OpenCitations’ adherence to its mission and values, as well as its annual activities and finances.

Transparent operations

OpenCitations ensures a high level of operational transparency by openly providing key documentation, including financial reports, a public roadmap, a mission statement and value proposition, a sustainability model and fee structure, and privacy policies.

Time-limited funds used only for time-limited activities

Grant income is restricted to funding specific, time-limited projects, including the appointment of personnel working on them, while core operations are not dependent on such funding. 

Goal to generate surplus

Thanks to memberships and donations, as well as in-kind support from the University of Bologna, OpenCitations has recently achieved the financial capacity to ensure stability until 2029, at least, in terms of funds allocated for staff salaries and technical operational expenses.

Establish and maintain financial reserves guided by policy

Although OpenCitations has reached a level of financial stability that ensures a budget surplus, there is currently no formal financial policy defining the amount of reserves to be allocated for a transition or wind-down plan, or to address exceptional or unforeseen events. However, OpenCitations has already initiated the necessary consultations to develop a Financial Reserve Policy, which will not only define the level and management of reserves but also provide a clear framework for handling revenues. In addition, it will establish and formalise procedures for approving both budget forecasts and actual expenditures.

Mission-consistent revenue generation

Revenue generation is aligned with the organisation’s mission (in particular, the value proposition according to which “external financial support is required from the stakeholder community to support OpenCitations and enable it to expand its delivery of high-quality comprehensive open bibliographic and citation metadata”), primarily through community funding via membership fees and donations. OpenCitations‘ members are listed on the website: https://opencitations.net/members-and-donors/  

Revenue generated from services, not data

OpenCitations charges no fees for any of its services, access to its data, or reuse of its software. OpenCitations members, donors and third parties all have equal free access.

Volunteer labour

OpenCitations’ core operations are carried out by paid staff, ensuring that the continuity and reliability of its services do not depend on volunteer labour. Nevertheless, OpenCitations recognises the value of voluntary labour. Indeed, the document Rules of Membership and Organizational Structure specifies that membership of the International Advisory Board is honorary and without remuneration, and that the Hosting Entity will reimburse all reasonable expenses related to travel, accommodation, and meals incurred in attending meetings, within the limits of the budget allocated for such purposes. While this is already stated in the governance framework, it is important to reiterate and further formalise it within the Financial Policy document currently under development. More broadly, the OpenCitations Mission Statement emphasises the importance of community engagement (voluntary and non-remunerated) through, for example, the involvement of community actors in the direct provision and curation of OpenCitations data, as well as the broader role of the community in supporting funding and participating in governance.

Transition planning

Transition planning is only partially developed. While the governance structure is in place, ensuring a management handover through the possibility of changing the hosting member upon approval by the Trustee Network, there is a lack of detailed operational documentation for individual roles within the management and technical teams, which may limit the organisation’s ability to ensure immediate continuity in the event of key personnel changes.

Open source

All OpenCitations software is released under open source licences, ensuring full transparency, reusability, and the possibility for the community to inspect, modify, and replicate the infrastructure.

Open data

To ensure the greatest possible reusability, all OpenCitations data is published under a Creative Commons CC0 Public Domain Waiver that permits downloading and re-use of any nature, including added-value re-purposing and commercial exploitation.

Available data

Data are provided through multiple access points, including REST APIs, SPARQL endpoints, query interfaces, and downloadable data dumps. This ensures broad accessibility and supports diverse use cases across the community.

Patent non-assertion

OpenCitations commits not to pursue patents, ensuring its infrastructure remains fully open and replicable. 

Prioritise interoperability and open standards to ensure continuity and resilience

The infrastructure has been redesigned as a container-based solution, thereby facilitating replication, deployment across different environments, and long-term service continuity.

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