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Open Science

This guide defines open science in a higher education setting and provides recommendations on how to implement open science

Potential Obstacles in Implementing Open Science

Creating a culture that accepts open science

  1. Both students and faculty may be hesitant to implement an open science curriculum in a course.
  2. First time implementation may be difficult to navigate and require more time to refine than traditional teaching methods.
  3. Open science is effectively a two-way street that requires both effective communication between students and faculty.
  4. Faculty may also find themselves reluctant to change their teaching approach, especially if they are used to their preferred methods of teaching.

Costs

  1. Open science initiatives may be costly to implement especially for institutions that may lack the experience or funds to do so. 
  2. The infrastructures required to achieve and maintain open science goals are extensive. They include but are not limited to:
    1. Reliable internet connectivity for students and faculty to conduct and share research
    2. Digital infrastructures to support storage of data, open code, results, etc.
    3. Training of staff in implementing open science initiatives.
    4. Staying up to date on new methods, tools, and frameworks.
  3. The costs associated with publishing research in open access publications often fall on the researchers themselves.

Quality Concerns

  1. There needs to be a well-defined process of peer review for open access publications.
    1. Some open access publications do not adhere to peer review principles and harm the reputations of researchers and open science initiatives. 
    2. These publications charge authors a "publishing fee" in place of a peer review process.

Publication Biases and Oligopolies

  1. Open science movements advocate for the publication of all research including unsuccessful, inconclusive, or negative research. 
    1. The hesitation of publications to publish such results can lead to false impressions of the research being conducted and damage the trust being scientists and the public.
  2. As a result of one of or a combination of the previous reasons, subscription-based journals are often favored over open access journals.