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VIVO

Lyrasis
United States of America
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About

Launched: 2009
Record Updated: Oct 17, 2025
Discovery system
Research profiling system
Standard, specification or protocol
VIVO is an open source software and ontology supported by a global community of members to represent the full breadth of the activities of scholars, researchers and scholarly institutions. The VIVO knowledge graph enables the discovery of these activities across disciplines, institutions and beyond.

Mission

VIVO supports recording, editing, searching, browsing, and visualizing scholarly activity. VIVO showcases the scholarly record, research discovery, expert finding, network analysis, and assessment of research impact. VIVO is easily extended to support additional domains of scholarly activity.
When populated with researcher interests, activities, and accomplishments, VIVO enables the discovery of research and scholarship across disciplines. The browsing and search function returns faceted results for rapid retrieval of desired information.
Content in a VIVO installation may be maintained manually, brought into VIVO in automated ways from local systems of record, such as HR, grants, course, and faculty activity databases, or from database providers such as publication aggregators and funding agencies.

Key Achievements

The developers and committers have released a new major version and three minor versions of VIVO software in 2024.
A major milestone of VIVO was the implementation of the internationalization features accomplished over the last several years, concluding in 2023.

Technical Attributes

Maintenance Status

Actively Maintained

Open Code Repository

Implemented
Website (Opens in new window)

Technical Documentation

Implemented
Website (Opens in new window)

Code License

Implemented
Website (Opens in new window)

Open API

Implemented
Website (Opens in new window)

Open Product Roadmap

Implemented
Roadmap (Opens in new window)

Technical Attribute Statements

Programming Languages

  • java

Technology Readiness Level

  • Actual system proven in operational environment

Code Licenses Used

  • BSD licenses

Standards

Hosting Options

  • Through solution or third party vendor

Service Providers

https://vivoweb.org/service-providers/

Integrations

PubMed

Community Engagement

Community Engagement

Implemented
Website (Opens in new window)

Community Statements

User Contribution Pathways

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

Community Engagement Activities

  • Annual meetings
  • Blogs
  • Community calls
  • Conference participation
  • Development sprints
  • Mailing lists and discussion forums (including Slack)
  • Social media
  • Staff roles with responsibility for community engagement
  • Volunteer or ambassador network
  • Webinars and training

Engagement with Values Frameworks

  • It Takes a Village Open Source Software Sustainability toolkit

Policies & Governance

Governance Summary

VIVO's Leadership Group sets development priorities and creates strategies for realizing those priorities. The Leadership Group consists of members and elected community representatives. VIVO Committers work with the community to maintain and advance the VIVO codebase by writing code as well as managing code contributions from the community. The VIVO Committers meet regularly to plan new features and enhancements.

Policies

Bylaws

Implemented
Website (Opens in new window)

Privacy Policy

Implemented
Website (Opens in new window)

Web Accessibility Statement

In Progress

Governance Records

Implemented
Website (Opens in new window)

Governance Structure & Processes

Implemented
Website (Opens in new window)

Policy Statements

Board Structure

  • Advisory board or steering committee

Board Level

The Leadership Group establishes priorities and is responsible for making strategic decisions in these areas.
- Annual budget allocation
- Substantial changes in allocations during the year
- Strategic product roadmap
- Strategic community direction

Community Governance

  • Formal

Additional Information

Organizational History

VIVO is in its seventeenth year as an open source platform for representing research and scholarship.
The VIVO Annual Reports provide an overview of the activities for each year. https://vivoweb.org/annual-reports/ .

Organizational Structure

Business or Ownership Model

Fiscal sponsorship (non-profit)

Full-time Staff

1-5

Volunteers

Unknown

Current Affiliations

Lyrasis serves as the organizational home for VIVO.
Multiple research institutions and universities across the world are involved in the governance of VIVO.

Funding

Primary Funding Source

  • Contributions

Funding Needs

Membership represents the main source of unrestricted income for program initiatives and provides essential support for our staff and operations. It is through the support and collaboration of our members that we are able to advance the program to meet the evolving needs of our community. Your financial support and engagement is critical to keep our program strong.
While the best way to support VIVO and ensure its sustainability is through membership, contributing to the Development Fund provides an alternative path to help accelerate the development work on its roadmap.
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