(Updated April 13, 2017)

(1) If you’re approaching a potential sponsor that is a company or organization, make sure that the potential sponsor:

• Is NOT a partisan political organization

• Is NOT company or organization that publicly or privately advocates against Open Access, Open Education, or Open Data.

(2) If you’re approaching a potential sponsor that is an Open Data provider, make sure that the potential sponsor aligns with the spirit of the Panton Principles (principles that promote Open Science). Here are a layperson's summary of the principles:

• “When publishing data make an explicit and robust statement of your wishes” [with respect to re-use and re-purposing of data]

• “Use a recognized waiver or license that is appropriate for data.”

• “If you want your data to be effectively used and added to by others it should be open as defined by the Open Knowledge/Data Definition – in particular non-commercial and other restrictive clauses should not be used.”

• “Explicit dedication of data underlying published science into the public domain via PDDL or CCZero is strongly recommended and ensures compliance with both the Science Commons Protocol for Implementing Open Access Data and the Open Knowledge/Data Definition.”

(3) If you’re approaching a potential sponsor that is a journal publisher, make sure that:

• The publisher is a member of the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association

• The publisher DOES NOT require readers to pay a fee to access peer-reviewed content

• The publisher DOES NOT use a default license that is more restrictive than a Creative Commons Attribution-Only License. See the different CC licenses here: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/

(4) If you are approaching a potential sponsor that is a publisher of educational materials, make sure that:

• The publisher DOES NOT use a default license that is more restrictive than a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial ShareAlike License. See the different CC licenses here: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/

Once you’ve decided who you’d like to approach as a sponsor,

Make sure that:

• Sponsors understand that they won’t have access to SPARC/OpenCon mailing lists

• The sponsor does not use the SPARC and OpenCon names and/or marks in association with a sponsorʼs product or service so as to imply SPARCʼs or OpenCon’s endorsement.

• You’ve communicated sponsors back to the OpenCon team

Note: SPARC / OpenCon have the right to review and refuse sponsors for an OpenCon event if we believe they violate the provisions listed above.