A number of preprint repositories may have to close down due to a lack of funds, Nature News reports.
It notes that these servers have enabled researchers around the world to share their work. For instance, regional- and language-specific servers like INA-Rxiv, ArabiXiv, AfricArxiv, and IndiaRxiv cropped up and their managers — who are volunteers — tell Nature News that these sites increase researchers' exposure.
According to Nature News, these preprint repositories are typically housed on servers at the Center for Open Science, but the center this year has begun to implement fees to cover maintenance costs. These fees, which start at about $1,000 a year and increases with increasing submissions, may lead some repositories to shutter, it says. It notes that the center's costs had previously been covered by grants but that those grants are no longer enough.
Dasapta Erwin Irawan from INA-Rxiv, a popular Indonesian repository, tells Nature News that he was unsuccessful in seeking government grants to pay for the repository and will be winding the service down, though no end date is yet set.