Simons Foundation, another major contribution to the world of Mathematics and Physics research

Posted on August 29, 2012 by Janet Clarke

It was announced on Aug. 28, 2012 that an operating grant from the Simons Foundation ensures future of arXiv, an open-access preprint database based at Cornell University Library since 2001. The repository includes reasearch in physics, mathematics, statistics, computer science and related disciplines. As an open-access service, it allows scientists to share “preprint” research before publication and boasts hundreds of thousands of contributors.

In 2011 alone, arXiv saw close to 50 million downloads from all over the world and received more than 76,000 new submissions. Cornell University Library has been steering arXiv toward sustainability since January 2010, when it launched an initiative to create a business model that would engage libraries and research laboratories that benefit most from arXiv’s service. A 2011 planning grant from Simons Foundation helped arXiv’s leaders develop operating principles and establish a governing board for the new model. Annual membership fees, paid by voluntary contribution from these institutions, help cover arXiv’s costs — and, now, will provide a sum for the Simons Foundation to match.

Stony Brook University is one the heavy users with 59,593 downloads ranked #34 worldwide in 2011, higher than Cornell University and Univ. of Chicago. To date, more than 120 member institutions including Stony Brook in over a dozen countries have pledged their support, totaling $285,000. Among the 100 institutions that use arXiv most heavily, nearly three-quarters committed to five-year pledges.