ArXiv is an open access repository maintained by the Cornell University Library. Articles deposited in arXiv are subject to moderation by more than 150 subject experts who determine whether or not an article is relevant to the scientific community, aligns with the rules of scholarly communication, and has been filed in the appropriate categories. All arXiv articles are freely available and are often present in multiple formats. ArXiv has articles from physics, mathematics, computer science, quantitative biology, quantitative finance, and statistics. It has been in existence for little over 25 years. During 2016, 113,380 articles were submitted and more than 100 million articles were downloaded by users around the world.
In order to chart an appropriate future direction for this invaluable resource, a user survey was conducted. The survey generated 36,000 responses from 127 countries, indicating the global reach of this open access repository. Analysis of the responses found that 95% of individuals were either satisfied or very satisfied with arXiv and 72% thought the open access repository should maintain its focus on the rapid dissemination of scientific articles. Going forward, the survey respondents suggested that the search function needs to be improved. It was also suggested that it should be made easier to link supporting information (such as research data, code, and presentation slides) to their associated papers.
ArXiv’s Future Direction
The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation has given a $445,000 grant to arXiv. The grant will be used to create a comprehensive plan for the next generation of arXiv (which will be known as arXiv-NG). The Sloan Foundation grant will support an 18-month project which will involve not only detailed planning but also enable improvements to be made to the existing infrastructure. Fully implementing all the changes will take about two million dollars and about three years. The Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence has given $200,000 in 2017 which will be used to hire a Research Fellow. This Fellow will work with the arXiv team to design and integrate newly designed tools arising from research efforts to improve the overall user and moderator experience. The Simons Foundation has also made contributions that allowed for membership fees to be lowered, helping to keep arXiv accessible to a larger audience.
Currently, arXiv is supported by membership fees collected from libraries and research laboratories. The open access repository is also supported by the Cornell University Library, the Simons Foundation and a global network of institutional members. Recently, a sponsorship model has been added, which encourages institutions to pay membership fees for those who could not otherwise afford them. Anurag Acharya, co-creator of Google Scholar, helped to launch this initiative by sponsoring the membership fees for three Indian physics research institutions. All of these changes and proposals are geared towards ensuring that this essential open access repository is self-sustaining and accessible as it continues to serve the global community.
