Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association
OASPA is a non-profit membership association that convenes more than 270 open access scholarly publishers, infrastructure providers, and academic institutions worldwide to set publishing standards and develop OA resources.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2008
- HeadquartersThe Hague, Netherlands
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association does
OASPA is a Dutch-registered non-profit membership association (Stichting under Dutch law), founded in 2008 and headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands. It convenes more than 270 members across six continents - including commercial publishers, society publishers, university presses, infrastructure providers, and individual supporters - operating in the open access (OA) scholarly publishing sector. Named members and recognizable brands in the roster span PLOS, Elsevier, Springer Nature, Frontiers, and MDPI, indicating broad legitimacy across the industry's commercial and non-commercial segments.
Its core products and outputs are the OA Journals Toolkit (jointly developed with DOAJ), the OA Books Toolkit, the Principles of Transparency (co-developed with COPE, DOAJ, and WAME), the Wayfinders equity program, and an annual conference. The underlying delivery stack is conventional and lightweight: a website, Mailchimp for email, Plausible Analytics for traffic, Eventix for event ticketing, and Zoom for virtual convening. The association's primary intellectual assets are codified standards and curated reference resources rather than software platforms.
OASPA's revenue model is membership-fee driven, with annual dues tiered by organizational size from approximately €57 (individual supporter) up to €10,749 (Very Large publisher). Additional revenue comes from conference registrations, event sponsorships, and supporter contributions. Membership confers directory listing, Code of Conduct adherence, and a recognized signal of credibility within the OA community, which functions as the primary go-to-market proposition for retaining and recruiting members.
Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association
- Legal name
- Stichting Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association
- Website
- https://oaspa.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2008
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- OASPA is a non-profit membership association that convenes more than 270 open access scholarly publishers, infrastructure providers, and academic institutions worldwide to set publishing standards and develop OA resources.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Industry Association Services for Open Access Scholarly Publishing
- NAICS
- Business Associations (813910), Professional Organizations (81392)
- SIC
- Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Educational Services (8200)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Open Educational Resources (OER) & Open Access Academic Publishing (MPAJABAG)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Open Access Scholarly Journals & Monographs (EDAGAFAJ), OER Quality Review, Alignment & Certification (rubrics/standards) (EDAGAJAN)
Keywords
Where Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- The Hague
- HQ country
- Netherlands
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others
Revenue model
- Membership Fees: Annual membership fees from organizations across multiple categories including Professional Publishers (Small, Medium, Large, Very Large), OA Scholar Publishers, and Infrastructure & Services (Commercial and Non-Commercial). Fees are paid annually in advance, with half fees charged for applications accepted after August.
- Supporter Fees: Annual supporter fees from organizations and individuals who support OASPA's mission but do not qualify for membership categories. Supporter tiers include Academic Institutions, Large organizations, Small organizations, Individuals, and Enhanced Support contributions.
- Conference Registration: Revenue from the annual OASPA conference and other events. Members and supporters receive discounted rates.
- Event Sponsorships: Sponsorship revenue from organizations supporting OASPA events and initiatives.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Professional Publishers (Small) - Organizations with annual publishing revenue below €500,000 |
| Subscription | Annual | Professional Publishers (Medium) - Organizations with annual publishing revenue between €500,000 and €5,000,000 |
| Subscription | Annual | Professional Publishers (Large) - Organizations with annual publishing revenue between €5,000,000 and €100,000,000 |
| Subscription | Annual | Professional Publishers (Very Large) - Organizations with annual publishing revenue above €100,000,000 |
| Subscription | Annual | OA Scholar Publishers - Individual or small groups of scientists/scholars publishing usually a single scholarly journal |
| Subscription | Annual | Infrastructure & Services (Commercial) - Commercial organizations providing services/support to OA publishing |
| Subscription | Annual | Infrastructure & Services (Non-Commercial) - Non-commercial organizations providing services/support to OA publishing |
| Subscription | Annual | Academic Institution Supporters - Universities, colleges, schools |
| Subscription | Annual | Large Organization Supporters - Organizations with €500,000+ revenue |
| Subscription | Annual | Small Organization Supporters - Organizations with €0-€499,000 revenue |
| Subscription | Annual | Individual Supporters |
| Subscription | Annual | Enhanced Support - For organizations with additional capacity |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels9 records
Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association product offering
Product offeringCore offering
OASPA is a global membership association that represents organizations engaged in open access scholarly publishing. It sells tiered annual memberships (Professional Publishers by size, OA Scholar Publishers, Infrastructure & Services) and supporter categories, evaluates applicants against rigorous criteria and a Code of Conduct, and convenes the community through an annual conference, virtual seminars, and the Wayfinders equity program. It also produces open resources such as the OA Journals Toolkit (with DOAJ) and the OA Books Toolkit, and co-authors the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing.
Product overview
OASPA is a not-for-profit association (Stichting) registered in The Hague, Netherlands, representing a diverse network of organisations engaged in open scholarship. Rather than offering a unified software product, OASPA provides a portfolio of membership services, events, and resources including the annual OASPA Conference, the OA Journals Toolkit (developed with DOAJ), the OA Books Toolkit, and the Wayfinders equity program. The organisation facilitates membership applications and reviews against rigorous criteria, provides Crossref sponsored memberships for Scholar Publishers, publishes the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice guidelines, and hosts virtual seminars. OASPA's offerings are designed to advance open access publishing through collaboration, standards development, advocacy, and community engagement across over 270 member organisations worldwide.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- OASPA Publisher and Infrastructure Membership Program Annual tiered membership for organizations engaged in open access journal and book publishing and for infrastructure and service providers, priced from €100/year (Scholar Publishers) to €10,749/year (Very Large Professional Publishers) based on publishing revenue, with rigorous application review against OASPA's criteria and Code of Conduct. Members receive Member Directory listing, member-only mailing list access, discounted conference rates, and the right to use OASPA membership as a credibility signal.
- OASPA Supporter Program
Quantifiable outcome
- Over 270 members and supporters across six continents demonstrating global reach and impact
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association
Customer profileNamed customers14 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration4 records
Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core, founding and minor.
- DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals)coreOASPA collaborates closely with DOAJ on the OA Journals Toolkit, developed jointly to provide practical guidance to open access publishers. DOAJ is also a key partner in defining principles of transparency and best practice in scholarly publishing. DOAJ membership is a requirement for OASPA membership for journal publishers with multiple journals.
- COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics)coreOASPA collaborates with COPE to define principles of transparency and best practice in scholarly publishing. These principles feed into the criteria on which all applications for OASPA membership are evaluated.
- World Association of Medical Editors (WAME)coreOASPA collaborates with WAME alongside COPE and DOAJ to define principles of transparency and best practice in scholarly publishing.
- SPARC EuropefoundingSPARC Europe is recognized as a founding member of OASPA, having participated in the initial discussions that led to the creation of the association in 2007-2008.
- CrossrefcoreCrossref provides DOI (Digital Object Identifier) services to OASPA members. OASPA offers a sponsored Crossref membership agreement for Scholar Publisher members, covering the cost of up to 50 DOIs per annum. Publishers depositing citation data with Crossref must make that data openly available per I4OC guidelines.
- The Charlesworth GroupminorThe Charlesworth Group is listed as an Infrastructure & Services (Commercial) member of OASPA, providing language editing and publishing services to OA publishers.
- Knowledge UnlatchedminorKnowledge Unlatched is listed as an Infrastructure & Services (Commercial) member of OASPA, providing OA book funding and collection development services.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals): Non-profit directory and certification service for open access journals, co-developer with OASPA of the OA Journals Toolkit and Principles of Transparency. Functionally a sibling/partner organization — both serve the OA publishing ecosystem with quality-vetting and standard-setting, though DOAJ focuses on journal-level vetting while OASPA focuses on publisher-level membership.
- ALPSP (Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers): UK-based international membership association for learned and professional society publishers, providing training, events, and advocacy. Highly comparable to OASPA in model (dues-funded non-profit serving scholarly publishers) but with broader society-publisher focus and without OASPA's specific open access standards-setting role.
- COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics): Non-profit membership organization providing ethics guidance, education, and case consultation for scholarly publishers and editors. Directly comparable in publisher-focused membership model and standards-setting role; co-developer with OASPA of the Principles of Transparency.
- Society for Scholarly Publishing (SSP): North American membership organization for scholarly publishing professionals, hosting the Annual Meeting and offering educational resources. Directly comparable in membership/community-led model and event-driven engagement, though more focused on the journal production community than on open access standards specifically.
- STM (International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers): Global trade association for STM publishers running industry standards, advocacy, and annual events (including the STM Frankfurt Conference). Comparable to OASPA as a membership body for scholarly publishers, though STM represents the broader commercial STM publishing industry while OASPA focuses specifically on open access.
Broad incumbents
- SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition): International advocacy coalition of academic and research libraries promoting open access and open scholarship. Operates in the same OA advocacy space as OASPA but represents library/institutional interests rather than publishers, and SPARC Europe is a founding member of OASPA.
Emerging players
- WAME (World Association of Medical Editors): International voluntary association of editors of medical journals focused on editorial standards and best practice. Smaller and more discipline-specific than OASPA, but co-developer of the Principles of Transparency and addressing overlapping editorial quality concerns.
- COAR (Confederation of Open Access Repositories): International association of repository initiatives, service providers, and other organizations working to enhance open access repository infrastructure. Adjacent to OASPA — focuses on the green/repositories side of OA rather than gold/publisher-led OA — and shares the convening/standards-setting role for its slice of the ecosystem.
Others
- PKP (Public Knowledge Project): Simon Fraser University-hosted initiative developing open source publishing software (Open Journal Systems, Open Monograph Press) widely used by OASPA member publishers. Sits in the OASPA ecosystem as a critical infrastructure provider rather than a competing membership body.
Regional players
- EASE (European Association of Science Editors): European-based international membership association for science editors offering training, resources, and community. Comparable in professional membership model and educational resource focus, but more editor-centric and primarily European while OASPA is publisher-centric and global.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association social profiles
Digital presenceOpen Access Scholarly Publishing Association compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles7 records
Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association
What does Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association do?
OASPA is a global membership association that represents organizations engaged in open access scholarly publishing. It sells tiered annual memberships (Professional Publishers by size, OA Scholar Publishers, Infrastructure & Services) and supporter categories, evaluates applicants against rigorous criteria and a Code of Conduct, and convenes the community through an annual conference, virtual seminars, and the Wayfinders equity program. It also produces open resources such as the OA Journals Toolkit (with DOAJ) and the OA Books Toolkit, and co-authors the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing.
Is Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association a public or private company?
Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association founded?
Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association was founded in 2008. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association based?
Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association is headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands, in the Europe region.
How does Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Membership Fees are the primary driver. The others are supporter Fees, conference Registration and event Sponsorships.
Who are Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals), ALPSP (Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers), COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics), Society for Scholarly Publishing (SSP) and STM (International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers). SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition) is listed as a broad incumbent. Emerging players are WAME (World Association of Medical Editors) and COAR (Confederation of Open Access Repositories). PKP (Public Knowledge Project) is listed as an others. EASE (European Association of Science Editors) is listed as a regional player.
Does Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association have an API?
No public API is recorded for Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association.
What industry is Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association in?
Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association's product category is Industry Association Services for Open Access Scholarly Publishing. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAJABAG, Open Educational Resources (OER) & Open Access Academic Publishing, with a secondary code of EDAGAFAJ, Open Access Scholarly Journals & Monographs. Its NAICS code is 813910 and its SIC code is 8600.