I received this press release today about Cornell’s physics preprint repository, arXiv hitting a huge milestone. Way to go arXiv! There’s also a video reflecting on this event …
CORNELL UNIVERSITY MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
FOR RELEASE: Jan. 13, 2015
Contact: Syl Kacapyr
Phone: (607) 255-7701
vpk6@cornell.edu
Scientific repository arXiv hits one million submissions
ITHACA, N.Y. – It all started with an electronic bulletin board — one computer on one scientist’s desk.
Now, more than two decades later, arXiv is a driving force in scientific communication. It draws in thousands of researchers every day, operating with a permanent staff and a $1 million budget. As an open-access service, it allows scientists — from diverse disciplines encompassing physics, mathematics, statistics, computer science and more — to share research before it’s formally published. A million papers have now been uploaded to the repository.
“arXiv accelerates the pace of science by allowing researchers to get their material out there for others to see and build upon right away,” said Chris Myers, arXiv’s interim scientific director. “It’s the go-to source, the core of an ecosystem, and it fills critical research needs for researchers around the world every day.”
Cornell University Library provides stewardship for arXiv, which came to Cornell when its founder, Paul Ginsparg, joined the faculty in 2001. Ginsparg is now a member of arXiv’s Scientific Advisory Board and still contributes to the repository’s operation.
In 2012, the Simons Foundation facilitated the development of a sustainability model to strengthen arXiv’s infrastructure and make it a collaboratively governed, community-supported resource. Now, a global collective of nearly 200 institutional members in 24 countries supports arXiv financially, and other organizations look to its funding structure as an example of a sustainable repository.
arXiv saw nearly 90 million downloads from all over the world and received more than 97,000 new submissions in 2013. Around the world, more than 150 subject experts evaluate and categorize every single article posted on arXiv.
Now, as it surpasses its millionth submission, arXiv is growing rapidly and expanding into new fields of science. Developers recently added a new digit to its identifying numbers so that the repository is now able to receive more than 10,000 submissions per month.
“In this era of rapid technological innovation, arXiv continues to fulfill a basic scientific need that’s just the same as it was 20 years ago: a trusted platform where scientists share their research with their colleagues,” said Oya Rieger, Cornell University Library’s Associate University Librarian for Digital Scholarship & Preservation Services, who serves as arXiv’s program director. “Scholarly communication has made vast technological strides — but, in its essence, arXiv remains unchanged and still excels in its basic principles.”
To learn more
Visit arXiv.org and library.cornell.edu. Information about the arXiv sustainability initiative is available on arXiv’s website.
