Stakeholders in the global system of scholarly exchange are facing a new and exciting challenge as enhanced data sharing policies take effect around the world. In the US, the new data sharing policy from the National Institutes of Health, and the Nelson Memo, have created a watershed moment for open data. Over the next several years, in response to these policies, we expect the volume and size of datasets submitted for curation and publication to grow markedly. 
In partnership with our community members, over the next six months Dryad will be piloting a more equitable and sustainable institutional membership model that also allows us to support growing demand and safeguard community ownership of Dryad. We are also standardizing our publisher membership model to align with our values of trustworthiness and inclusion.

We believe these thoughtfully designed models bring mutual benefit for Dryad and our partners, but we expect them to continue to evolve as we co-create a values-aligned, resilient future for Dryad with our community members.

As a community-led, mission-driven organization, Dryad values transparency and very much welcomes stakeholder input on this initiative. 

We therefore invite community comments and questions on our new membership model for academic institutions.

To participate, visit our open consultation document. You can leave comments directly in the document, or email us at community@datadryad.org. We invite your comments by August 25, 2023.