Restore Fully Free and Open Access to the ACM Digital Library
We, the undersigned, applaud the spirit of "ACM Open," the
Association for Computing Machinery's vaunted, long awaited
transition to full open access for all publications:
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3783915
https://cacm.acm.org/opinion/grand-opening-of-the-...
We therefore strongly oppose the very recent introduction of a new
metadata/search/commentary paywall at the ACM Digital Library (DL).
The new paywall was implemented, on the eve of the 2025 winter
holidays, to the surprise and dismay of many volunteers whose unpaid
labor makes ACM and the DL possible: conference organizers, authors,
and reviewers. The new paywall contradicts the spirit and stated
goals of ACM Open, negates much of the value of open-access
publications, and harms our entire profession by placing an embargo
on the intellectual heritage of computing.
Background: In recent years, the DL has always provided fully free
and open access to features based on bibliometric data and other
metadata associated with ACM publications, and the DL has allowed
anyone to post comments on publications. Advanced search and
filtering facilities enabled readers to find articles and authors of
interest. "Cited-By" tracing enabled readers to find all later
articles that cite an earlier article. Download counts and citation
counts enabled anyone to gauge the impact of articles: These
bibliometrics enabled authors to improve their work by better
understanding their audience, enabled readers to find influential
articles, and enabled employers to verify the impact of job
applicants' publications. Commentary features supported free and
open public conversations about articles. Author Profile pages
collected and published the complete works of individual authors at a
single stable URL; many authors treated their ACM DL Author Profile
page as a CV, trusting the DL to maintain it in perpetuity and
publish it without restriction.
In late December 2025, these previously free and open DL facilities
became "Premium Access" features. A small fraction of computing
professionals inherit Premium Access from employers who purchased it
at the institutional level, but enormous numbers of students, working
programmers, scholars, researchers, and employers are shut out. The
new paywall took many ACM members by surprise, even insiders who work
closely with top ACM publications.
Every programmer and computer scientist knows that data and metadata
complement each other like left shoes and right shoes. Giving away
one for free while charging for the other is not open access.
Bibliometric metadata is the glue that binds our literature into a
coherent whole. Because the new paywall has revoked access to this
metadata, most readers will struggle to connect dots in our
fast-changing field.
Author recognition is the social contract that binds writers into a
sustainable community: Authors fill the ACM Digital Library by
donating articles, and the DL rewards authors by enabling readers and
prospective employers to find and appraise authors' contributions.
The new paywall voids this social contract, shortchanging authors and
removing much of the incentive that formerly motivated them.
Volunteer labor is the foundation of ACM's existence. The new
paywall attempts to monetize volunteers' contributions, which were
intended for the benefit of the public.
We insist that ACM return to the right side of history by restoring
fully free and open access to all DL features that have lately been
paywalled.
Updates
Reached 1,000 supporters
January 7, 2026
Reached 100 supporters
December 31, 2025
323 Comments
I am a university research librarian, and any deterioration in access to metadata is deterioration of utility. What are the things the ACM needs this extra money for which could be offloaded to distributed volunteer work among its users?
Please reactivate all functions – as authors, we already pay a considerable fee for publication, specifically with the aim of open access. And please leave out this auto-generated LLM data – the meta information is already carefully provided by authors and is of much higher quality.
As a recently retired professional, I have lost institutional access to the ACM DL. I have been a member of the ACM for 30 yrs! Unrestricted access is critical for my continued technical activity. Please make it open!
Terrible decision by ACM leadership, totally lacking respct for ACM authors, contributors, editors, and referees who have been working as volunteers, including many for 50 years, such as myself. Erol Gelenbe ACM Fellow and Lifetime Member.
As a former member of ACM Council, I am appalled! This is antithetical to the primary role of ACM, which is to serve the Computer Science community. It reverses more than a decade of progress in openness that began well before the commitment to ACM Open.
As a researcher in the field of computing and AI I fully support full access to ACM Open.
Closed data services can't be Premium Features!
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Restore Fully Free and Open Access to the ACM Digital Library
We, the undersigned, applaud the spirit of "ACM Open," the
Association for Computing Machinery's vaunted, long awaited
transition to full open access for all publications:
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3783915
https://cacm.acm.org/opinion/grand-opening-of-the-...
We therefore strongly oppose the very recent introduction of a new
metadata/search/commentary paywall at the ACM Digital Library (DL).
The new paywall was implemented, on the eve of the 2025 winter
holidays, to the surprise and dismay of many volunteers whose unpaid
labor makes ACM and the DL possible: conference organizers, authors,
and reviewers. The new paywall contradicts the spirit and stated
goals of ACM Open, negates much of the value of open-access
publications, and harms our entire profession by placing an embargo
on the intellectual heritage of computing.
Background: In recent years, the DL has always provided fully free
and open access to features based on bibliometric data and other
metadata associated with ACM publications, and the DL has allowed
anyone to post comments on publications. Advanced search and
filtering facilities enabled readers to find articles and authors of
interest. "Cited-By" tracing enabled readers to find all later
articles that cite an earlier article. Download counts and citation
counts enabled anyone to gauge the impact of articles: These
bibliometrics enabled authors to improve their work by better
understanding their audience, enabled readers to find influential
articles, and enabled employers to verify the impact of job
applicants' publications. Commentary features supported free and
open public conversations about articles. Author Profile pages
collected and published the complete works of individual authors at a
single stable URL; many authors treated their ACM DL Author Profile
page as a CV, trusting the DL to maintain it in perpetuity and
publish it without restriction.
In late December 2025, these previously free and open DL facilities
became "Premium Access" features. A small fraction of computing
professionals inherit Premium Access from employers who purchased it
at the institutional level, but enormous numbers of students, working
programmers, scholars, researchers, and employers are shut out. The
new paywall took many ACM members by surprise, even insiders who work
closely with top ACM publications.
Every programmer and computer scientist knows that data and metadata
complement each other like left shoes and right shoes. Giving away
one for free while charging for the other is not open access.
Bibliometric metadata is the glue that binds our literature into a
coherent whole. Because the new paywall has revoked access to this
metadata, most readers will struggle to connect dots in our
fast-changing field.
Author recognition is the social contract that binds writers into a
sustainable community: Authors fill the ACM Digital Library by
donating articles, and the DL rewards authors by enabling readers and
prospective employers to find and appraise authors' contributions.
The new paywall voids this social contract, shortchanging authors and
removing much of the incentive that formerly motivated them.
Volunteer labor is the foundation of ACM's existence. The new
paywall attempts to monetize volunteers' contributions, which were
intended for the benefit of the public.
We insist that ACM return to the right side of history by restoring
fully free and open access to all DL features that have lately been
paywalled.
Updates
Reached 1,000 supporters
January 7, 2026
Reached 100 supporters
December 31, 2025
323 Comments
The need for access to the archives stretches beyond scientists or ed tech professionals. Open access is also important to chronically underfunded scholars and students of media, information, and digital literacy education. Please remove the paywall.
I am a university research librarian, and any deterioration in access to metadata is deterioration of utility. What are the things the ACM needs this extra money for which could be offloaded to distributed volunteer work among its users?
Please reactivate all functions – as authors, we already pay a considerable fee for publication, specifically with the aim of open access. And please leave out this auto-generated LLM data – the meta information is already carefully provided by authors and is of much higher quality.
As a recently retired professional, I have lost institutional access to the ACM DL. I have been a member of the ACM for 30 yrs! Unrestricted access is critical for my continued technical activity. Please make it open!
Terrible decision by ACM leadership, totally lacking respct for ACM authors, contributors, editors, and referees who have been working as volunteers, including many for 50 years, such as myself. Erol Gelenbe ACM Fellow and Lifetime Member.
As a former member of ACM Council, I am appalled! This is antithetical to the primary role of ACM, which is to serve the Computer Science community. It reverses more than a decade of progress in openness that began well before the commitment to ACM Open.
As a researcher in the field of computing and AI I fully support full access to ACM Open.
Closed data services can't be Premium Features!
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The need for access to the archives stretches beyond scientists or ed tech professionals. Open access is also important to chronically underfunded scholars and students of media, information, and digital literacy education. Please remove the paywall.