Open Science – an Introduction

In their talk, Mark Robinson and Marc Thommen, the two Open Science delegates of UZH, gave an introduction to Open Science and Open Data. They argued that science works much better, if it is open: it has a wider impact, more people can give feedback and thus improve quality, the public gets what it pays for, and it leads to smart choices.

First, Marc Thommen outlined what Open Access is, why it is important, and where we stand. Currently, an issue of the publication cycle is that the public pays twice for research: once in funding the work done at universities, and again for subscriptions to journals that publish the results of said research. This puts into question who actually owns knowledge produced at universities. Today, journals offer different levels of Open Access publication, from hybrid versions, to closed paywalls, to delayed and full Open Access. The number of open journals varies across disciplines, as there are different cultures and some communities pay more attention to journal impact factors than others. Thommen encouraged the participants to opt for new publication models, use Open Science servers, get an ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID), pay attention to DOIs (Digital Object Identifier), and get them for their own publications.

Mark Robinson subsequently introduced Open Data and discussed whether there is a reproducibility crisis in research. A meta-research study found that a large portion of replications produces weaker evidence for the original findings – and many results cannot be reproduced at all. This implies that the research practices used are generally not ideal which is not a good look for many disciplines. Robinson thus encouraged the participants to use and promote good research practices, and to help build sustainable, open infrastructures and communities.

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