1.2 Open Science Policy Landscape

Description

In this unit you will learn to:

Describe the current policy landscape that shapes knowledge production in SSH

Learning resources

Presentation Slides

Open Science Policy Landscape

Open Science - International Policy Landscape

There are several initiatives approaching Open Science from different angles. In the context of this training material, the focus is primarily on EU-driven efforts, although we have identified some non-EU efforts as well. Policies provide incentives and guidance on what OS aims to achieve. Below is a list of the most relevant and well known, but of course the list is not exhaustive. As a trainer you are advised to look at your local, national and regional context to discuss specific policies with your audience.

EU Initiatives and OS policies:

Horizon Europe OS Policy: Projects and research funded by Horizon Europe (and its associated programmes) should demonstrate OS practices alongside their research practices. The most common elements promoted by the Horizon OS policy are Open Access to scientific publications and the management of research data according to the FAIR principles. For example, all projects are required to produce a data management plan and demonstrate how they will manage their data and which data they plan to make open.
European Council of the European Union: The EU Council produced two conclusions that are highly pertinent to the Open Science movement. The Council Conclusion on [High-Quality, Open, Trustworthy and Equitable Scholarly Publishing](https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-9616-2023-INIT/en/pdf](https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-9616-2023-INIT/en/pdf) and the Council Conclusion on Research Assessment and Implementation of Open Science. Both have clear recommendations on how an organisation could enable and why the should prioritise open science practices.
Plan S: Plan S, championed by cOAlition S, is an initiative to ensure that scientific publications funded by public grants are made fully and immediately open access. The plan aims to eliminate publication paywalls, enabling universal access to research findings. This is vital for the progress and integrity of science, as open access facilitates the scrutiny, replication, and building upon of research. Plan S mandates that from 2021, all scholarly publications resulting from publicly funded research must be available in compliant open access journals or platforms.
Helsinki Initiative: The Helsinki Initiative on Multilingualism in Scholarly Communication supports the use of multiple languages in academic research to enhance societal impact and knowledge exchange. Launched by the Federation of Finnish Learned Societies and partners, it seeks to protect national research infrastructures, support locally relevant studies, and promote language diversity in research assessment. The initiative urges policymakers, institutions, and funders to ensure equitable access to knowledge in various languages and to value high-quality research regardless of publication language.
Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA): The Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA) is an international initiative focused on reforming the evaluation of research, researchers, and research organisations. CoARA promotes a framework that recognises diverse outputs, practices, and activities, prioritising qualitative judgement and responsible use of quantitative indicators. The initiative is based on ten commitments outlined in the Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment, which aims to enhance the quality and impact of research by fostering a more inclusive and comprehensive assessment system.

International OS Policies

UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science: The UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science aims to make scientific research and data more accessible, transparent and inclusive. It promotes the sharing of scientific knowledge and data across disciplines and borders, emphasising collaboration and the democratisation of science. The Recommendation advocates policies that support open access to scientific publications, data and infrastructures, thereby increasing the visibility and impact of research and fostering innovation and societal benefits.
USTP Memo: The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) has issued new guidance mandating that all federally funded research be made freely and immediately available to the public. This policy eliminates the current optional 12-month embargo period and requires agencies to update their public access policies by 2025. The aim is to increase transparency, equity, and the accessibility of taxpayer-funded research, fostering innovation and ensuring that the public benefits from scientific advancements without barriers.
DORA: The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) is an initiative to improve the way in which the results of scientific research are assessed. Developed at the 2012 annual meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology in San Francisco, DORA advocates the elimination of the misuse of journal-based metrics and promotes more holistic and fair assessment criteria.

There are a number of themes in all of these policies that might provide a lens through which to view and use them in your own context. Please note that our suggestions are not meant to be exhaustive, but rather a sample of the different concepts of discussion that you can find within the policies. These policies could help to address the reform of research assessment, or enable changes in the landscape of scholarly publishing, or promote open data and multilingualism.

Initiatives such as the Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) and the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA) aim to improve research assessment methods. Scholarly publishing is influenced by Plan S, which calls for high quality, transparent, open, trustworthy and equitable practices, and the USTP Memo, which also calls for similar progress with a specific focus on minimising embargo periods. Open data policies, exemplified by Horizon Europe, the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) and the FAIR Principles, emphasise the accessibility and reusability of data. Finally, multilingualism in scholarly communication is promoted by the UNESCO Recommendation and the Helsinki Initiative to ensure inclusivity and wider dissemination of research results.

Example:

The development of Open Science in the Framework Programmes (FPs) is highlighted in Horizon Europe, where the evaluation criteria for research proposals now take into account the quality and appropriateness of Open Science practices. This is assessed within the project methodology, specifically within the excellence award criterion, providing a strong incentive for applicants and beneficiaries to adopt Open Science practices.

In Horizon funding, Open Science will be assessed on the basis of several factors. The FAIR principles are central, emphasising that data should be "as open as possible, closed as necessary". Proposals will be assessed on how they embed open science practices, including open sharing of results and alignment with the FAIR principles. The Open Science capacity of individual researchers and consortia will also be assessed, evaluating their ability to support Open Science practices.

Other aspects related to open science practices are the early and open sharing of research, the existence of a robust research data management plan, reproducibility of research, open access to research results, open peer review and the involvement of citizen science. This comprehensive approach ensures that Open Science practices are thoroughly integrated and evaluated in Horizon Europe funding.

1.2 Open Science Policy Landscape

Description

Learning resources

Open Science Policy Landscape

Open Science - International Policy Landscape

Further reading