Open science is a catalyst for research creativity.
Njoud Maaitah
If I want to summarize this course in one sentence I will say that “The monopoly of information is the biggest obstacle to development”. From this course, I have learned the meaning of Open Science which is considered a systematic shift in science and research practices, with implications for the whole research cycle and its stakeholders. In contrast to closed science, I understand that OS is conducted and presented in such a way that others may participate, cooperate, and join the research endeavor, with all types of data, findings, and methods freely available at all stages of the research process.
After finishing this seminar, I think that almost everyone believes that “open science” will be the way of the research future. What do we do when we’re presented with a difficult scientific problem that we can’t solve? Many of us would approach our colleagues and seek their opinion. Our professional network is beneficial. It is also restricted. Perhaps there are people in another institution or firm, in a different country, who can help us, but we don’t know who they are. Isn’t it true that if we could reach those folks, science would advance more quickly? Or, even better, if they were able to locate us?
Regarding my field, Computer Science, sharing software or research materials with others can assist the discipline to avoid duplicating research efforts and boost cross-lab collaboration. It may also help to raise work visibility. From another hand, Open research provides verification through peer review and clear timeframes. There is also an educational component to this: when code and data are public, it is possible to replicate the results given in papers, which aids comprehension. Fundamentally, replication of discoveries is essential to open research and crucial to enhancing dependability, which benefits scientists at all levels. One of the things that I liked, the DMILawTool which was introduced through this course, it simplifies the legal aspect of data management.
Although there are several advantages to open science as mentioned above, it is undeniable that it necessitates some more time and work, particularly at the outset of a project. Fortunately, internet resources and peer and institutional assistance can help to offset some of these expenses. However, there may be another ‘cost’ or danger. Other researchers may find mistakes if they reanalyze our data or utilize our scripts or software. Obviously, many efforts will try to eliminate such risks. At the same time, we must realize that we are just human and that mistakes will occur.
and that what comes to my mind in the first moment, when the wonderful professor Eva was talking about the basic concepts of open science, I asked myself whether making everything open does not carry any risks to the idea, and by that I mean the rights of the owner, because the concept of open science promotes projects to be open to the public, But after reading more I found that there is something called Open Science Framework(OSF), and it became clear to me that there are ways to keep portions of a project private through OSF. A toggle option on the research project overview page lets individuals with administrator-level rights on the project choose whether certain elements of the project (if not all) will be public or private. Private projects, in general, are not searchable. Users can look for public projects on the internet. Certain parts of a public project can be made private, and they will be concealed from view. The OSF also offers project-level metrics, such as unique visits, downloads per project file, and top referrers, to help measure the effect. So Costs or risks associated with good and open science can be mitigated at institutional or research council levels.
I am planning to follow the steps below to be an Open Scientist:
One: I will try to find many researchers who have the same interests as me, and I will add them through ResearchGate, social media like Twitter, and Fb. Also, I will try to register with groups to post my research ideas and questions.
Second: I will share my research idea with tools and explain my research problem with other researchers. I will be interested in their opinions and their questions from the beginning, I will be grateful if someone gives me advice regards increasing the efficiency of my idea.
Third: I will try to convert my previous research works from closed to open. I will upload my source code, data sets, and results code on Github and share it with other researchers.
Forth: overleaf will be my drafting tool for any next research.
Fifth: my data will be shared through Dryed
And finally, When I finished my work, I will try to publish it through an open journal to be open access.
References
https://fredvbrug.github.io/openScience.html
Willinsky, J. (2005). The unacknowledged convergence of open source, open access, and open science.