Community participation as an open science research tool. Some personal considerations about the importance of citizen’s science.
Alexandra Jesus Oliveira Lopes
student number: 100 390 726
As a new paradigm of academic research, Open Science represents not only a great opportunity to connect the academia itself, but it also encompasses the aspirational goal of bringing science to our everyday life.
It can be said that one of the drawbacks for practicing open science is the legal issues inherent to intellectual property preservation when sharing outcomes from an academic research. Furthermore, apart from potential copyright barriers, most of researchers are still constrained with the rate standards which they tend to achieve through the publication in not open access journals.
While this can be a challenge, it is also true that open science scientists have been developing mechanisms to contour these struggles and, simultaneously, improving science methodologies within the academia.
For instance, as a law graduate that has been mostly concerned with Human rights issues, I think the open science caffes opened my mind to the possibility of societal engagement.
It is indeed important to take in consideration the advantages of involving stakeholders and, in my opinion, this the perfect link between this course and my field of studies.
The participation of civil society actors as a research methodology is something I’ve been trying to emphasize in my doctoral work. If science exists to boost our daily life it is important to establish a balance between theory and practice.
During my previous studies, I had the opportunity to investigate about the insufficiencies behind the scientific modern paradigm. In this regard, the absent connection with the surrounding reality, especially when it comes to legal systems, led me to the conclusion that the majority of fundamental rights legal framework is not in line with the real needs of communities.
The Law exists but it is not operational because scientists are distant from the reality they wish to transform. The premise is, hence, adopting open science paradigm as a collaborative way of making research.
It is important to bear in mind the importance of engaging with the society to solve real daily life problems. Open science is much more about the whole research cycle. It is not restricted only to the paper sharing. It implies redefining our way of doing research and, by doing that, it represents a very efficient tool to deconstruct one of the most solid dogmas of modern scientific paradigm, which is the separation between the scientist (subject) and its object of study.
Descriptivism would therefore be the logical consequence of the scientific modern paradigm that implies, as a basic principle, a reality given beforehand, which in these cases are the gross facts of nature.
The problem is that if knowledge cannot have any prescriptive function and, consequently, if the subject can’t interfere with the scientific process, all the academic research falls upon a dimension of pure abstraction. At most, we can get to know those facts from several different points of view and, even in these cases, the division of knowledge in disciplinary categories would prevent a holistic approach towards reality.
Given this in consideration, I would highlight as the main input of open science concept the possibility of applying the tools acquired in this course in the interviews, I intend to conduct during my doctoral research process.
As a result of this scientific methodology, I believe I would be able to improve the collaboration between different disciplinary perspectives. For instance, I will aspire to achieve a connection between the use of art, as a typical reasoning free of prejudices, and contra-hegemonic initiatives to decolonize Portuguese society and, in particular, its patriarchal premises over black women within the metropolitan area of Lisbon.
Apart from the transdisciplinary approach (interpreted, in my opinion, as a practical dimension of complexity paradigm through open science methodology), which I believe is one of the strongest outputs of open science, I am really enthusiastic with the idea of developing a data management plan and, in the sequence of the interviews I wish to prepare, I think I became equally more aware of the importance of data protection ethical committees.Specially in those case where there is not proper anonymity, it is vital to take in consideration the guidelines given by this course and its helpful tips on how to use the structures within the university (UC3M) that help researchers to analyse and interpret data.
