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📖 What is Open Science?

Open Science is the free dissemination of the results, methods and products of scientific research. It is based on the opportunity the digital transformation represents to help develop open access to publications and – as far as possible – to data, source codes and research methods.

Choosing open science first of all means affirming that research which is mainly financed by public funds must report its results back to the public in as much detail as possible. Openness is a necessary condition for the reproducibility of scientific results and the guarantee of better documented and more substantiated research. Sharing reinforces the cumulative nature of science and encourages its progress.

Open science represents not just a set of technical practices, but a transformation in research culture.

Core pillars of Open Science

Open Science rests on several interconnected pillars:

  • Open Access publications Research papers, preprints, and reports are made freely available online, removing barriers to knowledge dissemination. This includes both "gold" open access (published directly in open journals) and "green" open access (self-archived in repositories).

  • Open Data Research datasets are published with clear documentation (metadata) and are discoverable, accessible, and reusable under appropriate licenses. This enables data reuse across projects and disciplines.

  • Open Source Software Research code and software are released under open licenses, allowing others to inspect, use, modify, and improve the software. This is essential for computational reproducibility.

  • Open Methodology Detailed descriptions of methods, protocols, and workflows are documented and shared, enabling others to understand, critique, and replicate research processes.

  • Open Review and Evaluation Peer review processes become more transparent, with reviewer identities and comments sometimes made public, fostering constructive criticism and accountability.

  • Open Educational Resources Teaching materials, courses, and training content are shared openly, democratizing access to scientific knowledge.

Why Open Science Matters

Open science generates significant benefits for research, researchers, and society. Open science has the potential of making the scientific process more transparent, inclusive and democratic.

Open science:

  • increases scientific collaborations and sharing of information for the benefits of science and society;
  • makes multilingual scientific knowledge openly available, accessible and reusable for everyone; and
  • opens the processes of scientific knowledge creation, evaluation and communication to societal actors beyond the traditional scientific community.

Open science is a set of principles and practices that aim to make scientific research from all fields accessible to everyone for the benefits of scientists and society as a whole. Open science is about making sure not only that scientific knowledge is accessible but also that the production of that knowledge itself is inclusive, equitable and sustainable.

Our Context

In the context of research software, open science particularly emphasizes the visibility, accessibility, and sustainability of software tools developed for research. Although Open science is a necessary but not sufficient condition for reproducibility, this intersects strongly with research reproducibility and replicability—concepts that are impossible to achieve without access to the underlying code and computational environments.

Bibliography

[1] Ouvrirlascience: reference website produced by the Open Science Committee. https://www.ouvrirlascience.fr/

[2] European Commission: Open Science. https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/strategy/strategy-research-and-innovation/our-digital-future/open-science_en

[3] UNESCO. UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science. https://en.unesco.org/unesco-recommendation-open-science

[4] French Ministry of Higher Education and Research (2021). Second French Plan for Open Science. https://www.ouvrirlascience.fr/second-national-plan-for-open-science/

[5] Grenoble Alpes University, open science website. https://scienceouverte.univ-grenoble-alpes.fr/