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OpenCitations has been awarded the Certificate of Excellence in Research Infrastructure Leadership

On 8 May 2026, during the Graduation Ceremony of the Executive Masters in Management of Research Infrastructures (EMMRI), OpenCitations was awarded the Certificate of Excellence in Research Infrastructure Leadership. This recognition was achieved through the participation of members of the OpenCitations team in the 2024–2026 class of the Excellence Programme for Research Infrastructures, an initiative designed to support research infrastructures in developing organisational competencies across their teams, fostering sustainable and effective leadership models.

The OpenCitations participants included Director Silvio Peroni, CTO Ivan Heibi, Research Manager Claudio Fabbri, Systems Administrator Mario Petrella, and Communications Director Chiara Di Giambattista, who took part in the 11 modules of the programme. Across these modules, OpenCitations built a network of relationships and exchanges with other selected research infrastructures and strengthened its competencies in the following areas:

  • Governance and organisation
  • Developing a sustainable funding model for RIs
  • International law and compliance
  • Financial management
  • Raising awareness
  • Leadership and team building
  • Service provision
  • Infrastructure and resource management
  • Strategic management of RIs
  • Business development and innovation in the RI context

The graduation ceremony, the final step of this two-year journey, brought together faculty members and representatives from the research infrastructures. Among the reflections shared during the event, one phrase captured the spirit of the programme: “Leadership is a form of enthusiasm”. Indeed, this experience made it clear that such enthusiasm was widely shared among participants, including colleagues from different infrastructures worldwide. The exchange of perspectives promoted throughout each module of the programme fostered a more grounded and pragmatic understanding of how research infrastructures evolve and collaborate in an international environment.

We would like to thank the EMMRI team, in particular the Director Professor Marialuisa Lavritrano, and Professor Enrico Guarini and Drs. Laura Farina, for selecting OpenCitations for this programme and for developing an initiative that is both well-structured and internationally relevant, hosted at the University of Milano-Bicocca.

At the end of this programme, OpenCitations carries forward the responsibility to build on the stimulating discussions and insights gained throughout the course. We will work to further develop the competencies acquired and reflect on both the strengths and limitations identified through this exchange, to continue supporting the long-term sustainability and development of OpenCitations as an open scholarly infrastructure

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.

Wheels Are in Motion: OpenCitations’ progress in 2024

January is a strange month. After the festive whirl of December’s gatherings, it quickly shifts into the hustle and bustle of the new year’s commitments and the work that follows the holidays. For us at OpenCitations, however, it has become a tradition to take a moment at the end of this month to pause after the first hectic weeks of the year. This time allows us to reflect on the achievements of the past year and plan for the future with a clearer mind.  

2024 has been a transitional year, one where we’ve worked “in the shadows”, focusing on a series of behind-the-scenes improvements that will transform the OpenCitations experience for our users and services. Over the past few years, we have gathered valuable feedback from our community and have taken it to heart, using it to inform the enhancements to our infrastructure. These changes will be rolled out in the coming months of 2025, and we are excited to share a glimpse of what’s to come.

1. Strengthening the Foundations of the Technical Infrastructure

We closed out 2023 by announcing the redesign of our technical infrastructure, a crucial step for better managing OpenCitations’ data sources. This shift was necessary to enhance the efficiency of our processes and ensure scalability for the future. In particular, in recent months, our development team has been focused on addressing issues within OpenCitations Meta, to enable to set up again the usual bimonthly updates from one of our main data sources (i.e. Crossref). This work is essential to guarantee the timely release of the OpenCitations Index. 

We were happy to announce the July 2024 release of the Index, containing more than 2 billion citations, but we are now working to ensure that the release frequency is consistent throughout 2025. Our focus will be on maintaining a steady pace, ensuring regular updates, and improving the overall reliability of our data.

2.A Tool for Data Curation: HERITRACE

In addition to infrastructure improvements, we have been developing a new tool designed to streamline data curation: HERITRACE. This semantic data management system is tailored specifically for the GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums) sector. HERITRACE serves as an editor for curating bibliographic data, allowing users to track provenance and monitor changes over time. 

It has been tested in a small-scale project with a specific dataset, and early results have been promising. HERITRACE is designed to be user-friendly, offering non-technical users a seamless experience while providing an efficient administrative interface for technical staff. In comparison to other established platforms such as OmekaS, Semantic MediaWiki, Research Space, and CLEF, it stands out for its ease of use, provenance management, change tracking, and customization options. 

HERITRACE is built upon SHACL for data modeling and integrates the OpenCitations Data Model (OCDM) for tracking provenance and changes. Looking ahead, we plan to expand its capabilities with the integration of a robust authentication system and broader data compatibility through the RDF Mapping Language (RML), making it an even more powerful tool for digital heritage management. 

In the context of OpenCitations, the goal is to use HERITRACE to enable curating bibliographic metadata and citation data by expert users (e.g. librarians), aiming at increasing the quality of the data OpenCitations provides. 

In the video below, our developer Arcangelo Massari provides a quick overview and tutorial of HERITRACE:

 

3.New and Ongoing Collaborations

During 2024, we have honoured the aspects of our mission statement describing community engagement as a core point in OpenCitations’ activities. These partnerships are vital to advancing OpenCitations’ purposes and goals, and we look forward to continuing the collective work into 2025. In particular, we expanded the network of partnerships and released some outcomes of previous collaborations:  

  • Our project within the European Research Council (2023-2024) dedicated to the mapping of metadata collections between OpenCitations Meta and OpenAlex, has concluded. The full analysis is presented in the following article involving OpenCitations Developer Elia Rizzetto:  

Rizzetto, E.; Peroni, S., Mapping bibliographic metadata collections: the case of OpenCitations Meta and OpenAlex, in: CEUR Workshop Proceedings, CEUR-WS, «CEUR WORKSHOP PROCEEDINGS», 2024, 3643, pp. 155 – 168 (Proceedings of the 20th Conference on Information and Research Science Connecting to Digital and Library Science, IRCDL 2024, Bressanone – Brixen, Italia, 2024)  

  • January 2025 has formally marked the beginning of two new exciting projects in collaboration with OPERAS and other institutional and industrial partners, building upon our previous work together within the GraspOS Project. During 2024, it’s been inspiring being involved in the work packages of the project, where we have kept collaborating with our colleagues from OpenAIRE. Also, GraspOS is doing a terrific job in the promotion of the news and initiatives of its community, through its newsletter, and its blog (where you can also find an exclusive interview with our Director and one with our Head of Comms – hi, it’s me!), so we suggest you subscribe and follow if interested in the theme of Open Science and Responsible Research Assessment.
  • In April, we were included in Infra Finder, a tool developed by Invest in Open Infrastructure to foster discovery, adoption, and investment in open infrastructure services. The intuitive interface and usability make Infra Finder a helpful tool that could make OpenCitations and other infrastructure services more visible to a wider and diverse community. 
  • We continued our participation in the SCOSS Family, the community of practice gathering the Infrastructures from SCOSS six pledging rounds, and we are now part of the internal working groups aimed at exploring ways of collaboration, sharing resources, creating impact and contributing to creating a stronger open ecosystem.  
  • Lastly, OpenCitations is proud to be one of the supporters of the Barcelona Declaration, a key initiative launched in April 2024 aimed at fostering open access to scholarly information and advancing the principles of open science. This aligns perfectly with OpenCitations’ mission to promote transparency, accessibility, and collaboration in scholarly communication. By supporting the Barcelona Declaration, we reaffirm our commitment to the shared values of openness, inclusivity, and the democratization of knowledge, all of which are integral to creating a more equitable and accessible academic landscape for researchers, institutions, and the global community.  

4.Welcome and Farewell

Alongside the growth of our network, the OpenCitations team has also expanded, now counting 11 collaborators, including Research Fellows and PhD students, with the addition of Ivan Heibi as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and Mario Petrella as Systems Administrator. 

Besides the enrichment brought in by our new colleagues, 2024 also brought a great loss. The founder and director of OpenCitations, David Shotton, passed away in May, leaving not only an institutional but, most of all, a human void, as a mentor and guide. We wanted to remember him in this blog post, which aims to serve as a virtual wall of tribute, constantly evolving, where anyone wishing to share a thought for David can do so by sending an email to comms@opencitations.net.  

5.Renewal of the International Advisory Board for OpenCitations

After four years of prolific collaboration, the end of 2024 also marked the conclusion of our International Advisory Board’s first term. We’d like to extend our deepest gratitude to the former members for their invaluable insights and guidance throughout their tenure. Looking ahead, we are thrilled of the new members who have decided to put their expertise at OpenCitations’ service, and we can’t wait to begin working closely with them in 2025.

6.Some Spoilers for 2025

As we close out this year’s reflections, we’re also looking ahead to 2025. In this upcoming year, we will begin to see the fruits of our work from 2024. We are committed to continuously improving our offerings and services for our users and the community that supports us. We exist because of them, and we are here to serve their needs. 

In the coming weeks, you will also notice some exciting changes: OpenCitations will be undergoing a rebranding, along with updates designed to make our virtual presence more engaging and user-friendly. We’ve heard feedback about how challenging it can sometimes be to navigate our information, and we’re eager to make improvements that will help our users find what they need more easily. 

Finally, we invite all our readers to participate in the 5th Workshop on Open Citations and Open Scholarly Metadata (WOOC), which will be held in Bologna on May 28-29, 2025. WOOC aims to gather anyone interested in the widespread adoption of practices for creation, sharing, reuse and improvement of open scholarly metadata. This year’s edition of the workshop will be a special one, gravitating around the following theme: “Open Access of Research Information”. 

In particular, the first day will be dedicated to the Bologna Meeting on Open Research Information, to encourage discussion between the signatories and supporters of the Barcelona Declaration and other interested bodies and collaboratively orient the common roadmap, thus allowing the articulation of the outcomes that have recently been discussed during the Paris Conference on Open Research Information. 

The second day will be dedicated to invited contributions, presentations and a poster session selected among the participants for the call for contributions on the workshop theme. 

While the submission period for contributions is closing tomorrow, January 31 (h.23:59 AoE), there will still be opportunities to register as participants after the deadline, at the following link: https://forms.gle/Z7J36XSdPa9tkSop7. Please visit https://workshop-oc.github.io/ for all the information. We look forward to meeting you in Bologna!