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External resources on Open Science

DEFINITION

Open Science includes many things and can be thought as an umbrella of all of them. Here are some, that include the UNESCO common definition set at 2021:

  • Open  science  is  defined  as  an  inclusive construct that combines various movements and practices aiming to  make  multilingual  scientific  knowledge  openly  available,  accessible  and  reusable  for  everyone,  to  increase  scientific  collaborations  and  sharing  of  information for the benefits of science and society, and to open the processes of scientific knowledge creation, evaluation and communication to societal actors beyond the traditional scientific community. It comprises all scientific disciplines  and  aspects  of  scholarly  practices,  including  basic  and  applied  sciences, natural and social sciences and the humanities, and it builds on the following key pillars: open scientific knowledge, open science infrastructures, science  communication,  open  engagement  of  societal  actors  and  open  dialogue with other knowledge systems. UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science.
  • Open Science is scholarly research that is collaborative, transparent and reproducible and whose outputs are publicly available. OSPP-REC, Open Science Policy Platform Recommendations.
  • An approach to the scientific process that focuses on spreading knowledge as soon as it is available using digital and collaborative technology. Expert groups, publications, news and events. European Commission .
  • Open Science is the practice of science in such a way that others can collaborate and contribute, where research data, lab notes and other research processes are freely available, under terms that enable reuse, redistribution and reproduction of the research and its underlying data and methods. FOSTER.

PRECEDENTS ON OS DEVELOPMENT

BOAI (Budapest Open Access Initiative, 2001):

The Budapest Open Access Initiative arose from a small but lively meeting convened in Budapest by the Open Society Institute (now Open Society Foundations [OSF]) on December 1-2, 2001.

The purpose of the meeting was to accelerate progress in the international effort to make research articles in all academic fields freely available on the internet. The participants represented many points of view, many academic disciplines, and many nations, and had experience with many of the ongoing initiatives that make up the open access movement.

PLOS (Public Library of Science, 2000):

Leading a Transformation in Science Communication

The idea for PLOS began in 2000 when an open letter was circulated by founders Harold Varmus, Patrick Brown, and Michael Eisen. Recognizing that most existing journals were resistant to changing their business practices, in 2003 we launched our first fully Open Access journal to empower researchers to make science immediately and publicly available online, without restrictions. Our Article Processing Charge model, though revolutionary at the time, would soon pave the way for a new wave of publishing options and ensure the future of Open Access.

Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities (2003):

Our mission of disseminating knowledge is only half complete if the information is not made widely and readily available to society. New possibilities of knowledge dissemination not only through the classical form but also and increasingly through the open access paradigm via the Internet have to be supported. We define open access as a comprehensive source of human knowledge and cultural heritage that has been approved by the scientific community.

To realize the vision of a global and accessible representation of knowledge, the future Web has to be sustainable, interactive, and transparent. Content and software tools must be openly accessible and compatible.

DORA (Declaration on Research Assessment, 2012):

The Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) recognizes the need to improve how the outputs of scholarly research are evaluated. The declaration was developed in 2012 during the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology in San Francisco. It has become a worldwide initiative covering all scholarly disciplines and all key stakeholders including funders, publishers, professional societies, institutions, and researchers.

Amsterdam Call for Action on Open Science (2016):

This Call for Action is the main result of the Amsterdam conference on ‘Open Science – From Vision to Action’ hosted by the Netherlands’ EU presidency on 4 and 5 April 2016. It is a living document reflecting the present state of open science evolution.

MAIN ACTORS

World > UNESCO :

Setting global standards for open science for all: UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science (Nov. 2021)

Europe > European Commission: The EU’s open science policy:

Open science is a priority policy for the European Commission and the standard method of working under its research and innovation funding programmes as it improves the quality, efficiency, and responsiveness of research.

Spain:

Treinta y nueve. Se modifica el artículo 37, que queda redactado en los siguientes términos:

«Artículo 37. Ciencia abierta.

  1. Los agentes públicos del Sistema Español de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación impulsarán que se haga difusión de los resultados de la actividad científica, tecnológica y de innovación, y que los resultados de la investigación, incluidas las publicaciones científicas, datos, códigos y metodologías, estén disponibles en acceso abierto. El acceso gratuito y libre a los resultados se fomentará mediante el desarrollo de repositorios institucionales o temáticos de acceso abierto, propios o compartidos.
  2. El personal de investigación del sector público o cuya actividad investigadora esté financiada mayoritariamente con fondos públicos y que opte por diseminar sus resultados de investigación en publicaciones científicas, deberá depositar una copia de la versión final aceptada para publicación y los datos asociados a las mismas en repositorios institucionales o temáticos de acceso abierto, de forma simultánea a la fecha de publicación.
  3. Los beneficiarios de proyectos de investigación, desarrollo o innovación financiados mayoritariamente con fondos públicos deberán cumplir en todo momento con las obligaciones de acceso abierto dispuestas en las bases o los acuerdos de subvención de las convocatorias correspondientes. Los beneficiarios de ayudas y subvenciones públicas se asegurarán de que conservan los derechos de propiedad intelectual necesarios para dar cumplimiento a los requisitos de acceso abierto.
  4. Los resultados de la investigación disponibles en acceso abierto podrán ser empleados por las Administraciones Públicas en sus procesos de evaluación, incluyendo la evaluación del mérito investigador.
  5. El Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación facilitará el acceso a los repositorios de acceso abierto y su interconexión con iniciativas similares nacionales e internacionales, promoviendo el desarrollo de sistemas que lo faciliten, e impulsará la ciencia abierta en la Estrategia Española de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación, reconociendo el valor de la ciencia como bien común y siguiendo las recomendaciones europeas en materia de ciencia abierta.

    Además del acceso abierto, y siempre con el objetivo de hacer la ciencia más abierta, accesible, eficiente, transparente y beneficiosa para la sociedad, los Ministerios de Ciencia e Innovación y de Universidades, cada uno en su ámbito de actuación, así como las Comunidades Autónomas en el marco de sus competencias, promoverán también otras iniciativas orientadas a facilitar el libre acceso y gestión de los datos generados por la investigación (datos abiertos), de acuerdo a los principios internacionales FAIR (sencillos de encontrar, accesibles, interoperables y reutilizables), a desarrollar infraestructuras y plataformas abiertas, a fomentar la publicación de los resultados científicos en acceso abierto, y la participación abierta de la sociedad civil en los procesos científicos, tal como se desarrolla en el artículo 38.
  6. Lo anterior será compatible con la posibilidad de tomar las medidas oportunas para proteger, con carácter previo a la publicación científica, los derechos sobre los resultados de la actividad de investigación, desarrollo e innovación, de acuerdo con las normativas nacionales y europeas en materia de propiedad intelectual e industrial, obtenciones vegetales o secreto empresarial.»

Catalonia:

  • LLEI 9/2022, del 21 de desembre, de la ciència. > Article 79. Informació i transmissió del coneixement.
  • Pacte Nacional per la Societat del Coneixement (2020) sets the Catalan open science strategy:
    • Open access to scientific publications.
    • The publication of FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable) scientific data.
    • The creation of new infrastructures to integrate the resources of the Catalan research system into the European ecosystem of the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC).
    • Responsible for research and innovation policies. Increase the value of scientific culture as an essential tool to form a responsible and critical society and strengthen ad hoc training in this respect.
  • CERCA Open Data Strategy: to coordinate research centres with other system agents, such as Universities, CSUC, BSC, and others.

TOOLS & RESOURCES

FOSTER:

FOSTER Plus (Fostering the practical implementation of Open Science in Horizon 2020 and beyond) is a 2-year, EU-funded project, carried out by 11 partners across 6 countries. The primary aim is to contribute to a real and lasting shift in the behavior of European researchers to ensure that Open Science (OS) becomes the norm.

Open science monitor (EC):

The Open Science Monitor has been created to get some quantitative and qualitative insights on the ongoing development of open science practices. The policy is to foster Open Science. The Open Science Monitor is not an assessment tool. The Commission may conclude the quantitative and qualitative trends in open science and its drivers to propose new policies for fostering open science.

OpenAire:

The mission of OpenAIRE shall be to establish, maintain and operate an open and sustainable scholarly communication infrastructure and provide the necessary services, resources, and network for supporting a common European e-science environment.

Open Science Observatory:
An OpenAIRE service to:

  • Better understand the European open research landscape
  • Track trends for open access to publications, data, software
  • Reveal hidden potential on existing resources
  • View open collaboration patterns

Ouvrir la science:

The French Committee for Open Science mobilizes education and research stakeholders to support the implementation of the National Open Science Policy in a dynamic and coordinated manner. It is made up of several bodies that put forward guidelines, examine cases, make decisions and promote and support the actions linked to all of this. It is a fluid-structure that facilitates the expression and feedback of ideas, commitments, and contributions.