DataScience Workbook / 09. Project Management / 3. Resource Management / 3.1 Data Management / 3.1.1 Open Science Policy

Introduction

The Open X policies represent a transformative shift towards greater transparency, inclusivity, and collaboration in science, education, technology, and beyond. By democratizing access to information, research, and resources, these policies have fundamentally changed how knowledge is created, shared, reproduced and utilized, breaking down barriers to innovation and empowering individuals and communities worldwide. Their collective significance lies in fostering a culture of openness that accelerates progress, enhances accountability, and promotes equitable participation in the global knowledge retention.

Below you can find an overview of each policy, including their conceptualization, supporting institutions, definition, purpose, and relevant sources.

Open Science

This is a broad movement that advocates for making scientific research, data, and dissemination accessible to all levels of society. Open Science policies encourage researchers to share their data and findings openly, use open-source tools, and publish in open-access journals, thereby promoting transparency and reproducibility in research.


Conceptualized & Supported By:	Various stakeholders including researchers, libraries, universities, and organizations like the European Commission and UNESCO.
When Defined:	The movement gained momentum in the early 2000s, with formal definitions evolving over time.
Why?	To make scientific research, data, and dissemination accessible to all levels of society, amateur or professional.
Sources:	UNESCO’s Open Science Recommendation ⤴

Open Access

This policy advocates for the free, immediate, and unrestricted access to research publications and outputs. Open access enables anyone to read, download, and distribute the scholarly works, promoting wider dissemination and impact of research findings. It typically involves publishing in open access journals or repositories and can also include archiving versions of publications in institutional or subject-specific repositories.


Conceptualized & Supported By:	Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC), Budapest Open Access Initiative (2002), and the Berlin Declaration on Open Access (2003).
When Defined:	The term was first defined in the Budapest Open Access Initiative in 2002.
Why?	To ensure that scholarly literature is freely accessible online to all, without financial, legal, or technical barriers.
Sources:	Budapest Open Access Initiative ⤴

Open Data

Similar to open access, open data policies specifically focus on making research data freely available to the public, without restrictions. This policy ensures that data can be reused, redistributed, and reproduced in research and analysis.


Conceptualized & Supported By:	Governments and organizations worldwide, including the Open Data Institute (ODI) and the Open Government Partnership.
When Defined:	The movement has been growing since the late 2000s.
Why?	To make data freely available to everyone to use and republish without restrictions.
Sources:	Open Data Institute ⤴

Open Methodology

This policy encourages researchers to share their research methods, protocols, and procedures openly, allowing others to understand, evaluate, and replicate their studies.


Conceptualized & Supported By:	Academic communities and research institutions.
When Defined:	Discussions around open methodologies have been part of the broader open science conversations since the early 2000s.
Why?	To ensure that research methodologies are transparent, reproducible, and available for critique and reuse.
Sources:	No single source dominates, but it’s a principle often discussed within the context of open science platforms and publications.

Open Standards

Refers to the use of open, public, and widely accepted standards for data formats and protocols, which facilitates interoperability and data sharing across different platforms and systems.


Conceptualized & Supported By:	International standards organizations such as the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).
When Defined:	The promotion of open standards has been ongoing since the early days of the internet.
Why?	To ensure interoperability, compatibility, and reliability across different systems and technologies.
Sources:	World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) ⤴

Open Source Software

Promoting the use of software with a source code that anyone can inspect, modify, and enhance. This policy encourages collaboration, software improvement, and the sharing of tools that are critical in the research process. Currently, the source code for such collaborative projects is typically hosted as an open repository with public access on hosting platforms like GitHub ⤴, facilitating widespread participation and contribution from the global developer community.


Conceptualized & Supported By:	The Open Source Initiative (OSI) since its formation in 1998.
When Defined:	The term “open source” was adopted in 1998.
Why?	To promote the free redistribution and access to software’s source code, enabling collaborative software development.
Sources:	Open Source Initiative ⤴

Open Educational Resources (OER)

These are teaching, learning, and research materials that are in the public domain or released under an open license that permits their free use and re-purposing by others. OER policies promote access to quality educational resources for everyone.


Conceptualized & Supported By:	UNESCO since 2002, and supported by various educational institutions globally.
When Defined:	The term was first adopted at UNESCO’s 2002 Forum on Open Courseware.
Why?	To support access to educational resources for everyone, reducing barriers to education.
Sources:	UNESCO on OER ⤴

Open Peer Review

This movement aims to make the peer review process more transparent by disclosing reviewer identities, publishing review reports, and involving the broader community in the review process.


Conceptualized & Supported By:	Academic journals and publishers experimenting with transparency in the peer review process.
When Defined:	Various models have been explored since the early 2000s.
Why?	To increase transparency, accountability, and inclusivity in the peer review process.
Sources:	An overview and discussion of open peer review can often be found in scholarly communications literature and on the websites of journals implementing such practices.

Open Science Policy

Aleksandra Badaczewska