Open Science Business Models

Since founding the Digital Research Academy, I’ve been thinking a lot about how we can build organizations that are rooted in the values Open Science. An important aspect of this is ensuring their financial sustainability.

We live in a capitalist world and as much as it annoys me sometimes, we all need an income. Many academic Open Science initiatives rely on volunteers, which only works because the volunteers are either permitted to spend their working hours contributing to the initiative, or because they have the capacity to do so in their free time.

However, when we build organisations where folks spend most or all of their working hours, we need a different model. And we need a business model. A business model that stays true to the values of the organization.

For many people Open Science and having a business model does not go together.

If you make everything open then how can you earn money with what you build?

I think it’s possible and the Digital Research Academy aims to be proof of that. Other organizations show it as well. So, let’s dive into a few ways where working openly and making money can work well together.

Ways to make money while working openly

Sell the service, not the material

A lot of open source comanies do this. They create or contribute to open source software. What they sell are services around it. With the Digital Research Academy we do this as well. All our training materials are open educational resources (see our Zenodo community). What we sell are the learning experiences (trainings, events, etc.).

Hosting

Hosting is a special service, so kind of falls under “sell the service”. An example is WordPress, which is an open source software for creating websites. WordPress.com and other companies offer hosting those websites.

Pay to close

This is an enticing business model for open platforms, that Research Equals implements. You can publish your research materials there for free, but if you want to restrict usage or visibility, you need to pay.

Pay for creation

We often work with organizations that need training materials and pay us for creating them. The created materials are released under an open license.
For example, the BERD reproducible reserach course was created in this way. I’ve seen this also in software (e.g. unconventional.dev can implement new Indico features for you) or even in science communication (e.g. Peter Schmidt creates podcasts with his clients).

Open Core

Open Core is a principle where the key part of something - often software - is open, but other parts are only available upon pay. GitLab is a prominent example in this space.

Grants

In the research context this is the most promintent business model. It’s how researchers know how to make money. I encourage you to start thinking beyond grants for today, but of course I am adding it to the list for the sake of completeness.

Memberships

Associations often work based on the business model of memberships. Members will become members based on what they get out of the membership but also based on the aligned values with the organisation.
I am, for example, a member of the Society for Research Software in Germany (de-RSE), because I believe that better software will lead to better research.

Donations

Donations, even more than memberships, are based on supporting a cause the donor thinks is valuable. Valuable not directly to them, but for the greater good. By definition there cannot be an expected return (see sponsorship as comparison).
The Center for Open Science is a prominent example in the Open Science space that does build part of their income on donations.

Sponsorship

Sponsorships are similar to donations but they come with an expected return, often in the form of visibility.
We use sponsorships for events. Actually, we are currently looking for sponsors for the upcoming Open Science Retreat. Any ideas? Send them to me!

Crowdfunding

In crowdfunding you want many people to support an idea. Often those supporters get rewards or early access to the idea. There are specific crowdfunding platforms for science, but you can also use the regular platforms.
A crowdfunding campaign that got a lot of attention in the Open Science community was the one helping out the folks from Data Colada for funding their legal defense. They were sued for raising (very convincing) concerns about scientific fraud.

Partnerships

Working with great partners is generally nice, but sometimes it can even be financially beneficial.
For example, for the first Open Science Retreat we partnered with a new research center for systems research - CASUS. They were able to support with funding, but CASUS was more than a sponsor. They were a real partner for the event, helping with infrastructure, outreach and more.

Thinking beyond money

You can’t be financially sustainable without money, but it also doesn’t have to be involved in everything.
At the Digital Research Academy, we often exchange our work and support for other things than money. For example, last year I gave a workshop at the German statistics conference DAGStat in exchange for a booth at the conference.

The stuff that I forgot

I probably forgot something here. Reach out and let me know what I should add!

Let’s build thriving Open Science organisations

I am in Open Science for the cause, not for the money. I wrote this post, because I want to see initiatives and organizations in this space succeed.

I hope it helps you in improving financial sustainability for your organization so you can create the change we need and not have to worry about money.

All the best,
Heidi