Frequently Asked Questions
How can research funders/institutions respond to these messages?
Why is 2021/2022 regarded as the ‘launch phase’? And what does that mean?
How far is the community in implementing the P1-E2 messages?
What are the challenges for publishers that the OA Switchboard aims to address?
What are the challenges for institutions/funders* that the OA Switchboard aims to address?
What value does the OA Switchboard bring for institutions/funders*?
Do I have to be an OASPA member to become a customer of the OA Switchboard?
last updated: 22 February 2022
page created: 14 September 2020
1. What is the OA Switchboard initiative?
The OA Switchboard initiative is a global, not-for-profit collaboration between funders, institutions and publishers to provide essential infrastructure, standards and back office services to facilitate the fulfilment of open access strategies across business models, policies and agreements. The goal is to achieve a breakthrough in the transformation of the market such that Open Access is supported as the predominant model of publication.
Throughout 2020, a project (overseen by OASPA, funded through a sponsorship model) was run to prepare for the OA Switchboard to go live as an operational solution. Following a successful project, as of January 2021, the OA Switchboard moved to an operational stage with a sustainable governance structure and funding model.
Read more here.
2. How does the OA Switchboard work?
The OA Switchboard enables funders – institutions – publishers to send, receive and respond to a pre-defined set of standardised messages between them.
Or, via their dedicated partner’s system, if applicable.
3. What types of messages can publishers send?
Details on messages as sent by a publisher:
Eligibility Enquiry
Publication/Payment Settlement Notification
4. How can research funders/institutions respond to these messages?
Details on messages as sent by a funder or institution, in response to a publisher's:
Eligibility Enquiry
Publication/Payment Settlement Notification
5. Why is 2021/2022 regarded as the ‘launch phase’? And what does that mean?
2021/2022 is regarded as the ‘launch phase’ in which we’ll closely work with customers and stakeholders to further build a solid basis, both in terms of functionality and service level, but also in operational adoption of funders, institutions and publishers. We all recognise that we'll need time to to achieve wide adoption, and to allow for (technical) integration and implementation, and for continuous improvements. We're in this together to further develop the OA Switchboard and make it a success.
For participants and statistics see here.
6. How far is the community in implementing the P1-messages?
7. How far is the community in implementing the E1-E2 messages?
8. What problem does the OA Switchboard solve?
The problem for funders, institutions and publishers is that it is complex to implement multi-lateral Open Access publication-level arrangements.
Developments:
Open Access (OA) output is growing year-on-year
Increasingly, funders and institutions are paying for OA centrally
OA business models are becoming more and more diverse, some with or without individual publication fees, some through agreements with publishers, some through sponsorship models
Funders and institutions are expanding the requirements about how various research outputs should be published
For a specific (pre)publication there may be multiple authors involved, each with multiple institutional affiliations and funder arrangements (multi-lateral publication level arrangements)
Managing the increasingly complex network of agreements between publishers and institutions, along with the rise in number of policies associated with open access publications by academic institutions and funders poses serious implementation challenges, because:
A myriad of systems, portals and processes
Many-to-many relationships to be maintained between the multitude of stakeholder groups (and their members)
Manual and human interaction
Inconsistent terminology, lack of (use of) persistent identifiers
Lack of oversight and real-time monitoring, thus difficulty in detailed billing and in tracking spend and committed funds
Consequences:
Policies are not always effectively implemented and agreements not realised to the full
This complexity, and the current administrative burden on institutions, funders and publishers, has also hindered progress in developing new business models to support a broader move to OA
From a researchers perspective, this landscape is at best confusing, and at worst impenetrable
9. What are the challenges for publishers that the OA Switchboard aims to address?
It takes a lot of manual work to determine if a funder or institution is willing to centrally pay the OA publishing cost of a given publication
As a smaller publisher, there is no way for us to develop OA publishing agreements with funders and institutions
All our workflow systems will need to be updated to accommodate and report on the (transformative) OA deals we’re signing
10. What are the challenges for institutions/funders* that the OA Switchboard aims to address?
Administrating our central OA fund is harder than we imagined, since every publisher has their own systems and invoicing processes
There is no way we can possibly sign OA publishing deals with every single publisher
For the (transformative) deals we’ve signed we’re unable to generate reports or monitor compliance across different publishers
* when involved in directly settling publication charges
11. What value does the OA Switchboard bring for publishers?
Simplicity & Transparency
Collaboration & Inter-operability
Efficiency & Cost-effectiveness
Opportunity for better customer service:
for authors/researchers
for institutions and funders
In more detail:
One communication standard, process and system across multiple institutions and funders
No need to maintain operational relationships, nor technical integration/connectors, across multiple institutions and funders
No need for contracts with participating funders / institutions to benefit from central OA funds
Integration with own (or partners´) systems and (author/researcher-facing) tools to enhance these
Support authors in their compliance and relieve them from financial administration and settlement of OA publication charges
Find out if a specific OA publication has the potential to meet the requirements of the authors, how to get the service charges settled, and to enable such financial settlement
Locate central OA funds, and get publication charges paid from these funds in an efficient and cost-effective manner
Standardised way of verifying eligible authors under a prior agreement
No need to revert/correct licenses after publication
First time right invoices and financial settlement statements
No need for manual work, nor customisation on funder and institutional reports
Want correct information/data about their publication options to be available
12. What value does the OA Switchboard bring for institutions/funders*?
Simplicity & Transparency
Collaboration & Inter-operability
Efficiency & Cost-effectiveness
Opportunity for better researcher service
In more detail:
One communication standard, process and system across multiple publishers
No need to maintain operational relationships, across multiple publishers, nor technical integration/connectors, across multiple publishers
No need to negotiate special arrangements and contracts with participating publishers
Integration with own (or partners´) systems and (author/researcher-facing) tools to enhance these
Support authors in their compliance and relieve them from financial administration and settlement of OA publication charges
Upfront assessment if and how a certain OA publication meets the requirements
Automatic alerts and tracking of publications and all their details
Automatic feed of these data into local systems
Linking invoices to publication data
Standardised reporting and intelligence
Monitor compliance across deals
Demonstrate impact and account for how funds are spent
Administer funds, monitor and track committed spending/sponsorship
* when involved in directly settling publication charges
13. What value does the OA Switchboard bring for funders?
The value of the OA Switchboard for a funder can be one, or a combination of two or more of the below:
Direct benefits (when involved in directly settling publication charges) - see Question 7
Indirect benefits (when not directly involved in settling publication charges)
Community benefits
14. Where can I find technical details?
The repository and documentation can be found here: https://bitbucket.org/oaswitchboard/api/.
In the root there is a readme with the documentation. Here is a direct link: https://bitbucket.org/oaswitchboard/api/src/master/README.md.
An explanation of the data fields in the message structure can be found here:
https://bitbucket.org/oaswitchboard/api/src/master/messages/
15. Why open source?
The reasons we choose open source:
By design: open source software licenses promote collaboration and sharing.
By mechanism: open source is an essential mechanism for building transparency and (therefore) trust. Open source ensures that all parties can validate that there are neutral and ‘accurate’ assessment algorithms, providing a guarantee that the OA Switchboard can be validated as the neutral host and facilitator it aspires to be.
No vendor lock-in, guaranteed exit scenario.
Cost: free license model.
It brings future security because others can build on our work.
16. What parts in the OA Switchboard are open source?
The following software is developed for us by our tech partner, and delivered to us under and Open Source license (MIT):
Core (message hub & data store): Open source code, fully transparent. The (public) repository and documentation can be found here: https://bitbucket.org/oaswitchboard/api/
Web application (with User Interface): developed and released as part of the Open Source Pubsweet framework. Possibility to contribute via community owned/shared/joint development
The following parts are developed for us by our tech partner, and delivered to us under an Open Source license (MIT). Contributions made available to the community for use and further development:
Connectors: Open source code and (where possible) part of an Open Source project like OJS (plugin), etc. The possibility to contribute via community owned/shared/joint development. Connectors are here: https://bitbucket.org/oaswitchboard/api/src/master/connectors
Message structure standard: an explanation of the data fields in the message structure can be found here: https://bitbucket.org/oaswitchboard/api/src/master/messages
All source code produced by our tech partner for us, is delivered to Stichting OA Switchboard under an Open Source license. To run it, there is a dependency on AWS Platform-as-a-Service:
Platform-as-a-Service offered by AWS (Amazon Web Services) is not open source (e.g. API gateway, VPC, server environments, Lambda serverless runtime, messaging services including SQS/SNS/SES)
Database-as-a-Service offered by AWS is open source, PostgreSQL enabled as a managed database service
17. How is scalability ensured?
The core message hub is highly scalable, especially due to the use of AWS (Amazon Web Services) micro services. AWS is by far the largest cloud provider (hosting almost all large sites in the world), and is scalable and secure. That is exactly the reason why we decided (in coordination with our Tech Advisors and Steering Committee) to not develop this piece ourselves. The above visual shows the message lifecycle for sending a message through the OA Switchboard. The AWS API gateway is linked to a serverless – Lambda validation function that invokes an SQS queue. This is what AWS says about this:
By default, SQS support up to 300 messages per second.
Lambda functions with an Amazon SQS trigger can scale up 60 additional instances per minute to a maximum of 1,000 concurrent invocations.
That is over 1 million messages per hour. And that is the default. If more volume and guarantees are required then an SLA is available, however we don’t expect to need it.
18. How is security and privacy ensured? Part 1: Via technology
Right from the start in the MVP we’ve ensured security and privacy in the OA Switchboard:
One user (one account) per participant. Authorisation is required, always.
The Sandbox is for testing purposes. The PRODuction will be made available later.
We store message header (all) and message body (optional).
If a participant integrates directly onto the API AND stores their own messages, there is no need to store them at OA Switchboard. *)
If a participant uses the User Interface OR does not store their own messages, the OA Switchboard will store them. *)
Only participants sending & receiving a message can retrieve the message body. OA Switchboard staff cannot access a participant’s message body. Unauthorized access is logged.
*) Note that if stakeholder 1 sends a message to stakeholder 2, and for stakeholder 1 point 4 is applicable, and for stakeholder 2 point 5 is applicable, the messages sent by stakeholder 1 are stored in the OA Switchboard.
19. How is security and privacy ensured? Part 2: Via contracts
All participants in OA Switchboard sign the same Service Agreement, with General Terms & Conditions.
20. What is a ‘certified integrator’?
A ‘certified integrator’ is a party that, on behalf of a primary stakeholder (a funder, an institution, or a publisher) integrates with the OA Switchboard API in the standard message structure. A party can request to be awarded the ‘certificate’, after which a formal assessment and check will be done, and a decision taken.
The certification process is described in our Code, and includes:
the integration is operational for minimal 2 institutions and/or 2 funders and/or 2 publishers
the integration is operational for minimal 2 month, with sufficient volume
all direct stakeholders in (Stichting) OA Switchboard satisfied
Certified partners, when approved, will be listed on the OA Switchboard website.
21. Who have already signed up to the OA Switchboard?
22. Who can get an account in the OA Switchboard?
Funders, institutions and publishers with a contract.
23. Do I have to be an OASPA member to become a customer of the OA Switchboard?
No. However, a screening (led by OASPA), to ensure we preserve the integrity of scholarship, will be part of the process.
The screening process involves elements of the OASPA membership application process, however if a publisher does not yet meet all of the OASPA criteria it will not necessarily mean exclusion from becoming an OA Switchboard customer and obtaining an account. Reasons for failing the screening for the OA Switchboard could be related to concerns about editorial process, and publishing ethics or behaviour. Ultimately, it is an OASPA decision, and the reasons in case of rejection will be clearly communicated to the party concerned only.
24. Why do I need to sign a contract to get an account?
To secure privacy and security. See questions above.
25. What does it cost?
The OA Switchboard operates on a self-sustaining economic/business model, whereby the operational and development cost are supported by service fees (with transparent pricing) for participating funders, institutions and publishers. We charge fees for development and maintenance of the infrastructure, and for participants to exchange information and communicate. Pricing is transparent and we keep fees as low as possible to offer an affordable solution.
We can keep OA Switchboard participants’ fees low, because we’re open source, tightly managed for costs, and the load is shared between funders, institutions and publishers.
There is an annual fixed (tiered) subscription fee. Contracts are from January-December only (though, first time start can be any time), and invoicing takes place in January of the year concerned.
Tech support is provided for free, for those integrating with the OA Switchboard API in the standard message structure.
2022 LIST PRICES (excl. VAT)
PUBLISHERS
Very small: EUR 50 (fixed subscription fee)
Small: EUR 1,000 (fixed subscription fee)
Medium: EUR 2,500 (fixed subscription fee)
Large: EUR 5,000 (fixed subscription fee)
Very large: EUR 10,000 (fixed subscription fee)
Size of publisher is determined by total annual publishing revenue (Small = below €500,000; Medium = between €500,000 and €5,000,000; Large = between €5,000,000 and €100,000,000; Very large = above €100,000,000).
INSTITUTIONS
Small: EUR 500 (fixed subscription fee)
Medium: EUR 1,000 (fixed subscription fee)
Large: EUR 2,500 (fixed subscription fee)
Very large: EUR 10,000 (fixed subscription fee)
Size of institution is determined by total research output (Very large = above 5% of global research output).
CONSORTIA/COUNTRY DEALS
Pricing for institutional consortia and/or all institutions in one country is based on research output (number of articles published per annum), as a percentage of global research output.
FUNDERS*
Small: EUR 1,000 (fixed subscription fee)
Medium: EUR 2,500 (fixed subscription fee)
Large: EUR 5,000 (fixed subscription fee)
Very large: EUR 10,000 (fixed subscription fee)
Size of funder is determined by total research output (Very large = above 5% of global research output).
* This will only be relevant for those funders who want to have an account in the OA Switchboard
26. How can get I get involved?
Please see here.
27. How is sustainability ensured?
For 2021 and beyond we are building everything in accordance with our core principles, and operating with a governance structure and funding model that will ensure sustainability and preserve the goals of the OA Switchboard into the future:
Neutrality and independence are preserved (separation of control and economic interest, no shareholders).
We operate a lightweight not-for-profit collaboration between funders, institutions and publishers, whereby the entity is ‘collectively controlled’ and the cost structure is transparent.
Industry-wide representation and collaboration in developing open source solutions and services.
We operate on a self-sustaining economic/business model, whereby the operational and development cost are supported by service fees (with transparent pricing) for participating funders, institutions and funders.
We support all OA business models, policies and types of scholarly output (provided they preserve the integrity of scholarship).
We are an intermediary, and observe the researcher (author) proposition and interaction of funders, institutions and publishers.
Read more on why this is all important here.
28. What's on the development roadmap?
Please check here.