The future of Open Science, though promising, is not certain.

In recent years, as Open Access and Open Science have gained momentum, a vital infrastructure of non-commercial services supporting and enabling OA and OS has evolved. But many of these services we’ve come to rely on are not financially stable.

If we are to continue moving toward a future of science and research that is truly open, this infrastructure must be secured. And we need your help securing it.

Support for open access to published research and data continues to grow. Also growing are high-level efforts—from the likes of the EU and funding bodies like the Wellcome Trust—to make the open sharing of research findings conditional to funding.

While such policy directives are essential to advancing open access, so too is an infrastructure that can support a publishing landscape steadily migrating to a state where “Open” is the default.

Many key services that now comprise the existing infrastructure, which has evolved over time, are non-commercial and far from financially secure. Some could even be described as “at-risk.”

Being that many of these services are now fundamental to implementing Open Access and Open Science policies and supporting these workflows, securing them has become a growing concern of the broader OA and OS community. The formation of the SCOSS represents a community-led effort to help maintain, and ultimately secure, vital infrastructure.