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Open Policy Finder (formerly Sherpa Services)

Jisc
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
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About

Launched: 2002
Record Updated: Nov 13, 2024
Open access policy information compilation
Open Policy Finder (formerly Sherpa Services) is an online platform that consolidates and presents standardised summaries of open access policies for publishers (journals and books) and funders worldwide. Serving as a centralised resource, it simplifies the complex landscape of open access requirements by aggregating and summarising publisher self-archiving and funder policies. Open Policy Finder supports university librarians, research staff, and the scholarly community, reducing time spent searching multiple sites and allowing users to focus on core tasks. With a user-friendly interface and open API, Open Policy Finder provides easy access to comprehensive policy data for institutions and researchers globally.
Research Organization Registry (Opens in new window)

Mission

  • Open policy finder (formerly Sherpa services) - Helping authors and institutions to make informed and confident decisions in open access publication and compliance.

  • OpenDOAR - The world’s authoritative and quality-assured directory of open access repositories.

    • Key Achievements

    Open policy finder (formely Sherpa services) and OpenDOAR have over the years grown in terms of data in these directories. Currently open policy finder holds data on 3,503 global publisher OA policies; including data on 28,000 journal OA policies; includes data on 178 major global funders OA policy requirements and OpenDOAR holds data on 5,868 global institutional repositories supporting global aggregation efforts of aggregating articles from global IRs. Access to this data is free and will always remain free to all, via a recently upgraded web UI and API. Our data is used to prime global initiatives aimed at helping authors and institutions make informed and confident decisions in open access publication, compliance and in increasing aggregation of OA material along with tracking the growth of global institutional repositories.

    Technical Attributes

    Maintenance Status

    Actively Maintained

    Technical Documentation

    Implemented
    Website (Opens in new window)

    Open API

    Implemented
    Website (Opens in new window)

    Open Data Statement

    Implemented
    Website (Opens in new window)

    Technical Attribute Statements

    Technology Readiness Level

    • Actual system proven in operational environment

    Content Licensing

    We allow most of our website and its contents to be reused under the terms of a Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-SA).


    Some of our content may be labelled under CC BY-NC-ND.

    Standards

    Community Engagement

    Community Engagement

    Implemented

    Contribution Guidelines or Fora

    Implemented
    Website (Opens in new window)

    Community Statements

    User Contribution Pathways

    • Contribute funds
    • Contribute to education or training
    • Contribute to user research or user testing
    • Contribute to working groups or interest groups

    More About Community Engagement

    Community Engagement Activities:

    Link to ways that the community can become involved in Jisc's overall remit of
    activities: https://beta.jisc.ac.uk/get-involved


    Sherpa services itself has a User Group that anyone can sign up to:
    https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A0=SHERPAUSERS

    POSI Audits have been carried out internally - but the results of these are not public. Sherpa Services Product management will be looking at how we can move forward with the POSI principles as part of a new Sponsorship/Governance model that is being investigated. Sherpa Romeo was a pilot for SCOSS involvement. But we are looking at how we can make our Jisc Sherpa services financially sustainable in a post-SCOSS environment.

    Policies & Governance

    Governance Summary

    Sherpa Services is an initiative of Jisc, which is governed by a Board of Trustees.

    Policies

    Commitment to Equity & Inclusion

    Implemented
    Website (Opens in new window)

    Privacy Policy

    Implemented
    Website (Opens in new window)

    Web Accessibility Statement

    Implemented
    Applies to Website

    Governance Records

    In Progress

    Governance Structure & Processes

    Implemented
    Website (Opens in new window)

    Policy Statements

    Board Structure

    • Advisory board or steering committee

    Community Governance

    • Ad hoc

    Additional Information

    Organizational History

    Open Policy Finder (formerly Sherpa Services), founded in 2006 at the University of Nottingham’s Centre for Research Communications and now managed by Jisc, is a foundational tool in the academic open access publishing ecosystem. Serving university research support teams, library services, funders, and the global open access (OA) community, Open Policy Finder addresses the challenge of fragmented information on publisher and funder open access policies. By offering standardised data on both publisher self-archiving and funder OA policies, it simplifies access to essential policy requirements for researchers and institutions worldwide.

    Organizational Structure

    Business or Ownership Model

    Non-profit organization

    Current Affiliations

    • Jisc

    Funding

    Funding Needs

    Open Policy Finder (formerly Sherpa Services), managed by Jisc on behalf of the global open access community, plays a vital role in providing accurate, standardised open access policy information. While Jisc has committed resources to implement and maintain this essential service, its operational demands—particularly extensive data curation and collection—require additional, sustainable support. Automation remains limited due to the lack of interoperable links with publisher systems, further intensifying the need for resource allocation.

    Though we are grateful for voluntary funding through the SCOSS initiative, this support alone is not sufficient to establish a lasting funding framework. We are now seeking partnerships (https://openpolicyfinder.jisc.ac.uk/support-open-policy-finder) with global institutions to create a membership-based funding model that ensures Open Policy Finder remains a reliable, long-term asset for the open access community.
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