Catégories
EN

Preprints as a driver of open science: Opportunities for Southeast Asia

Authors : Dasapta Erwin Irawan, Hilyatuz Zahroh, Iratxe Puebla

Southeast Asia is an emerging force of open access scholarly output. For example, Indonesia is in a tight competition with United Kingdom as the largest publisher of open access journals and the second largest producer of open access articles in the world (according to DOAJ and the COKI OA Dashboard, respectively).

However, this support for open practices is not yet reflected in institutional research policies in Southeast Asian countries, which still rely on criteria influenced by world university rankings that focus on publication outputs and do not incorporate elements related to research culture, integrity, or open science.

Preprints have gained increasing attention across disciplines in the last few years, but they are still not included in institutional policies in SouthEast Asia. This paper discusses the potential for preprints to be a driving force for open science and for quality and integrity in scholarly outputs from Southeast Asia.

There is a fledgling preprinting culture in the region, catalyzed by the RINarxiv preprint server in Indonesia and the Malaysia Open Science Platform. We argue that preprints have many advantages: opportunities for open access and for researchers to maintain copyright to their work, wide dissemination, encouraging feedback and critical thinking, and community governance.

With these advantages, preprints can become a fast and open communication hub between researchers and all stakeholders in the research process. We recommend regulatory and practical steps to incorporate preprints into science policy and researchers’ practices as an effort to promote research integrity, open data and reproducibility.

URL : Preprints as a driver of open science: Opportunities for Southeast Asia

DOI : https://doi.org/10.3389/frma.2022.992942

Catégories
EN

Open Science Knowledge Production: Addressing Epistemological Challenges and Ethical Implications

Author : Bjørn Hofmann

Open Science (OS) is envisioned to have a wide range of benefits including being more transparent, shared, accessible, and collaboratively developed than traditional science. Despite great enthusiasm, there are also several challenges with OS.

In order to ensure that OS obtains its benefits, these challenges need to be addressed. Accordingly, the objective of this study is to provide an overview of one type of challenge, i.e., epistemological challenges with OS knowledge production, and their ethical implications.

Based on a literature review, it (a) reveals factors undermining the envisioned benefits of OS, (b) identifies negative effects on knowledge production, and (c) exposes epistemological challenges with the various phases of the OS process.

The main epistemic challenges are related to governance, framing, looping effects, proper data procurement, validation, replication, bias, and polarization. The ethical implications are injustice, reduced benefit (efficiency), increased harm (as a consequence of poor-quality science), deception and manipulation (reduced autonomy), and lack of trustworthiness.

Accordingly, to obtain the envisioned benefits of OS, we need to address these epistemological challenges and their ethical implications.

URL : Open Science Knowledge Production: Addressing Epistemological Challenges and Ethical Implications

DOI : https://doi.org/10.3390/publications10030024

Catégories
FR

Le positionnement des bibliothèques universitaires et de recherche françaises dans les politiques publiques des données de la recherche

Auteur/Author : Paul Cormier

A l’heure du quatrième paradigme de la science, la science ouverte, et la gestion des données de la recherche en particulier, font désormais l’objet de politiques qui se structurent à différentes échelles (internationale, européenne, nationale et au sein des établissements universitaires et de recherche).

Après une phase initiale d’interrogations, il apparaît désormais que les bibliothèques sont des actrices et des partenaires cruciales tant en ce qui concerne le leadership que les questions techniques dans l’appui à la recherche.

Elles sont aujourd’hui présentes et actives dans la grande majorité des espaces de réflexion autour de ces enjeux. Adossé à la sociologie de l’action publique, ce mémoire entend dépasser la question du « pourquoi » et du questionnement autour de la légitimité des bibliothèques à participer à la gestion des données de la recherche en s’interrogeant sur le « comment ».

Ce travail identifie trois rôles exercés par les bibliothèques dans le cadre leur participation à l’élaboration des politiques des données de la recherche (rôles d’expertes, de conception et d’actrices opérationnelles).

Il montre que c’est d’abord en élargissant les réseaux professionnels français puis en mobilisant et en structurant leur discours à travers leurs organisations professionnelles, par leur capacité à travailler en réseau, leur expertise technique, leur expérience tirée du déploiement de l’open access et leur capacité d’advocacy, que les bibliothèques ont su se placer en actrices incontournables du chantier de la science ouverte.

URL : Le positionnement des bibliothèques universitaires et de recherche françaises dans les politiques publiques des données de la recherche

Original location : https://www.enssib.fr/bibliotheque-numerique/notices/70658-le-positionnement-des-bibliotheques-universitaires-et-de-recherche-francaises-dans-les-politiques-publiques-des-donnees-de-la-recherche

Catégories
EN

The Role of Data in an Emerging Research Community : Environmental Health Research as an Exemplar

Authors : Danielle Polloc, An Yan, Michelle Parker, Suzie Allard

Open science data benefit society by facilitating convergence across domains that are examining the same scientific problem. While cross-disciplinary data sharing and reuse is essential to the research done by convergent communities, so far little is known about the role data play in how these communities interact.

An understanding of the role of data in these collaborations can help us identify and meet the needs of emerging research communities which may predict the next challenges faced by science. This paper represents an exploratory study of one emerging community, the environmental health community, examining how environmental health research groups form, collaborate, and share data.

Five key insights about the role of data in emerging research communities are identified and suggestions are made for further research.

URL : The Role of Data in an Emerging Research Community : Environmental Health Research as an Exemplar

DOI : https://doi.org/10.2218/ijdc.v16i1.653

Catégories
EN

The Academic, Societal and Animal Welfare Benefits of Open Science for Animal Science

Authors : Christian Nawroth, E. Tobias Krause

Animal science researchers have the obligation to reduce, refine, and replace the usage of animals in research (3R principles). Adherence to these principles can be improved by transparently publishing research findings, data and protocols.

Open Science (OS) can help to increase the transparency of many parts of the research process, and its implementation should thus be considered by animal science researchers as a valuable opportunity that can contribute to the adherence to these 3R-principles.

With this article, we want to encourage animal science researchers to implement a diverse set of OS practices, such as Open Access publishing, preprinting, and the pre-registration of test protocols, in their workflows.

URL : The Academic, Societal and Animal Welfare Benefits of Open Science for Animal Science

DOI : https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2022.810989

Catégories
EN

Biosecurity in an age of open science

Authors : James Andrew Smith, Jonas B. Sandbrink

The risk of accidental or deliberate misuse of biological research is increasing as biotechnology advances. As open science becomes widespread, we must consider its impact on those risks and develop solutions that ensure security while facilitating scientific progress.

Here, we examine the interaction between open science practices and biosecurity and biosafety to identify risks and opportunities for risk mitigation. Increasing the availability of computational tools, datasets, and protocols could increase risks from research with misuse potential.

For instance, in the context of viral engineering, open code, data, and materials may increase the risk of release of enhanced pathogens. For this dangerous subset of research, both open science and biosecurity goals may be achieved by using access-controlled repositories or application programming interfaces. While preprints accelerate dissemination of findings, their increased use could challenge strategies for risk mitigation at the publication stage.

This highlights the importance of oversight earlier in the research lifecycle. Preregistration of research, a practice promoted by the open science community, provides an opportunity for achieving biosecurity risk assessment at the conception of research.

Open science and biosecurity experts have an important role to play in enabling responsible research with maximal societal benefit.

URL : Biosecurity in an age of open science

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3001600

Catégories
EN

Institutionalizing Open Science in Africa: Limitations and Prospects

Authors : Izuchukwu Azuka Okafor, Smart Ikechukwu Mbagwu, Terkuma Chia, Zuwati Hasim, Echezona Ejike Udokanma, Karthik Chandran

The advancement of scientific research and raising the next-generation scientists in Africa depend largely on science access. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused discussions around open science (OS) to reemerge globally, especially in resource-poor settings like Africa, where the practice of OS is low.

The authors highlighted the elements, benefits, and existing initiatives of OS in Africa. More importantly, the article critically appraised the challenges, opportunities, and future considerations of OS in Africa. Addressing challenges of funding and leadership at different levels of educational, research, and government parastatals may be pivotal in charting a new course for OS in Africa.

This review serves as an advocacy strategy and an informative guide to policymaking and institutionalization of OS in Africa.

URL : Institutionalizing Open Science in Africa: Limitations and Prospects

DOI : https://doi.org/10.3389/frma.2022.855198