March 29, 2024

Open Science: Science to Share

Open Science aims to make science freely available, more transparent, and more collaborative. You can find out exactly what’s behind the new scientific practice here.

The way scientists conduct research and communicate has changed in recent years. Traditionally, research results appear in scholarly journals, which are often only available to paying subscribers. Scientists have also looked at exchange from Information And resources Among themselves for a long time not as a priority.

This has led to criticism that academics shut themselves up in their own “ivory towers” – they may wear blinders when it comes to their research and not make their work sufficiently accessible to the general public.

Open Science aims to address these challenges and OpensAnd transparent And cooperative scientific practice I promote.

This is what distinguishes open science

Open science should be fair, transparent and collaborative.
(photo: CC0/Pixabay/jarmoluk)

The central aspect of open science is open access for search results, data, and other resources. Whereas until now scientific findings and publications have been primarily hidden behind a paywall and thus not accessible to the general public, Open Science promotes free and open access to research. In addition, Open Science aims to improve scientific practice More transparent and collaborative Close.

Another concern of open science is the improvement of science Reproducibility. This means that the results of scientific studies can be replicated by others for accuracy. Sometimes, for example, a lack of presentation of the scientific methods used prevents other scientists from re-doing the experiments.

From open access to citizen science

To achieve these goals Open Science is used different tools:

  • open accessA scientific document published under open access conditions can be downloaded, read, linked, printed and used free of charge by anyone.
  • open sourceOpen source refers to software whose source code is publicly available and can be developed by other people. Open source also contributes to the reproduction of search results. If the tools and methods used by scientists are publicly available and well documented, other researchers can verify and replicate the results. This improves the credibility of search results and helps increase the quality of search results.
  • open dataOpen data is data that can be accessed, used, edited by anyone, and shared for any purpose. Open data is usually collected and published by government agencies, research organizations, or non-profit organizations. Scientists have free access to this data. Thus, open data contributes to generating new knowledge by enabling researchers to combine and analyze data from different sources.
  • Open peer reviews: Open peer reviews The scientists were able to present their research findings to a broader (scientific) community for review and comment before journals published them. In the traditional peer review process, only a limited group of experts selected by the journal editors evaluate research findings. This process is often opaque and can result in some papers not being published even though they are of high quality. On the other hand, open peer reviews can be conducted by any scientist with relevant expertise. As a result, a variety of opinions flow into a scientific document, broadening views and improving the quality of research results.
  • Search with/outside the community: Apart from scientists, representatives of the wider public can also be involved in this type of research. For example, it is not a few individual scientists who define research questions, but those questions come from the crowd—ideally from a community affected by the research topic. This helps researchers pay more attention to the needs and interests of the public in their work. Open science also includes the so-called Citizen science.

You can find out here how you can get involved in open science projects as a citizen scientist:

Open science: benefits and challenges

Open science makes science more reliable.
Open science makes science more reliable.
(photo: CC0/Pixabay/felixioncool)

Open science itself is a subject of scholarly consideration. Researchers deal with an issue What are the chancesbut also any challenges It entails an open science approach.

  • One Stady On the effects of open access in scientific work, it has shown that a freely available publication is being used more and more Reach a diverse audience. In addition, open access publications contribute more knowledge transfer Contributes to the transfer of knowledge to society. In addition, the deployment process is proven to be shorter. The study was also able to allay concerns that open access publications were of lower quality.
  • last Stady He asserts that open science practices can be beneficial, especially to young researchers. Accordingly, young scientists benefit from, among other things, increased opportunities for their work to be published. Basically, open science contributes to more trustworthy science, as results can be better verified and replicated.
  • The study also points out challenges from open science. This is an open science process in places less flexible as a closed search. This is illustrated by the example of the so-called pre-registration of the study. Pre-registration means recording the hypotheses, methods, and/or analyzes of a scientific study prior to its implementation. That way, other scientists can actually take a look and point out potential sources of error. However, for the researchers carrying out the work, pre-registration means less flexibility, as they can set up their research plan before the project begins and cannot adjust it as the work progresses.
  • Another hurdle is that open science remains It is not rewarded the same way It becomes like a traditional academic practice. For example, the dogma that science should always be innovative still applies. Finally, studies with innovative content get the most attention and attract donors. Therefore, many researchers prefer to work on something new rather than deal with the reproduction of existing research within the framework of open science.
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Contact a scientist: Unlock science in action

As indicated, open science contributes to the transfer of knowledge. The example shows how this might look concretely world ringshow online Scientists with Classroom brings contact. The program aims to promote exchange and understanding between researchers and students, especially in subjects such as mathematics, science, and technology.

The program allows students to ask questions and Discussions with scholars To deepen their understanding of scientific concepts and topics. Scientists can present the results of their work and research and give students an insight into their work. The exchange takes place via Video or audio chatorganized by the Ring-a-Scientist platform.

the program Free It is open to schools and classrooms around the world. It will be one nonprofit organization Operated, supported by volunteers.

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Keywords: society how psychology