Meet Our New NOAD from Moldova: Welcoming the Information Society Development Institute!

Dear OpenAIRE members, NOADS and partners, 

We are pleased to announce yet another addition to our scholarly communication and open science community!  

1. Can you please introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your background and expertise?

2. What motivated you to become a part of the OpenAIRE community?

We, at the Information Society Development Institute, have been developing information systems supporting various aspects of the research activity for almost 15 years now. Our main research areas include open access, e-infrastructure development, scientometric studies, research evaluation. National Bibliometric Instrument IBN, developed by IDSI in 2011, is the biggest Open Access electronic library of articles published in national scientific journals and conference proceedings from the Republic of Moldova, with over 206.000 records. STIU.md is the national portal for research information, while other systems have been developed for specific purposes: a database of national scientific events, an IT system to support the mapping of national research infrastructures, a system dedicated to monitoring and displaying the national RDI indicators and EXPERT online to support the evaluation of national research project proposals. IDSI TV is an online streaming service for scientific, cultural and educational events from the Republic of Moldova. We have been developing systems following mostly a bottom-up approach, as they seemed to be required by the existing circumstances and by the research community. Interested in best practices at the international level in our field of research, we have been monitoring OpenAIRE developments for a while and realised it was the perfect opportunity to be part of a collaborative international community, where we could share knowledge and contribute to enhancing the openness, accessibility and visibility of research outputs.

3. How would you define Open Science, and why do you believe it's important in today's research landscape?

From my point of view Open Science is about making scientific research openly accessible at all its stages, so data, tools, methods, publications, and other types of outputs are all openly shared. Open Science to me is about visibility, transparency, reproducibility, accountability and shared infrastructure. In today's research landscape, it is particularly important because Open Science is about sharing knowledge, fostering collaboration and innovation, it is about making science more credible and more impactful. At the same time, I believe Open Science also comes with numerous challenges, ranging from technical aspects to changing researchers' attitudes and behaviors.

4. Could you share some of the current projects or initiatives you're involved in related to Open Science?

IDSI is one of the pioneers in advancing Open Science principles and practices at the national level. We were the organisers of the first national Open Science conference in 2018 and authors of the first comprehensive study "Open Science in the Republic of Moldova" in 2018 and its second edition in 2022. During the last couple of years, we have focused on different aspects of Open Science, such as developing the database of national scientific events, elaborating the concept of the national research data infrastructure, developing the conceptual framework for the promotion of Open Science at national and institutional levels, raising awareness about predatory publishing etc. The institute is developing the National Bibliometric Instrument IBN and updating it with publications on a permanent basis. After becoming an OpenAIRE member in 2023, we have made efforts to enhance IBN visibility and made the necessary steps for it to be indexed in OpenAIRE Graph and by BASE. In 2023, we have also become a CoARA member and have recently approved our CoARA Action Plan.

5. Is there a particular aspect of Open Science that resonates with you personally? Could you tell us about it?

Because I have a background in IT, I am also interested in the various aspects of the infrastructure underlying Open Science. Therefore, since 2021, I have been the founder of METADATA, a Crossref sponsoring organization in the Republic of Moldova, providing support to almost 40 national publishers with content registration and increasing national research visibility, through encouraging good practices, such as ORCiD for authors, DOI for scientific publications, and choosing appropriate publishing platforms, such as OJS, etc.

6. How do you see Open Science evolving in the next decade, and what role do you hope to play in that evolution?

My opinions are heavily influenced by my experiences so far with our national research community, as well as relevant international developments. I believe that the movement for "openness" will further evolve, advancing open science, open access, open peer review, open research data, open and shared infrastructures, etc. It comes with its own challenges and issues, regarding the uptake and adoption of all these „open" trends, how to equip researchers with the necessary skills and incentivize them to adopt these new practices, at the same time making them aware of the potential risks, e.g. predatory publishing practices (that have already made their „victims" among the national scholarly community). I am firmly convinced that the underlying infrastructure for scholarly communication should be further strengthened, with particular attention to rich metadata for different types of research content (publications, data etc) and the wide use of persistent identifiers (DOI, ORCID, ROR etc.) that should become the norm. I also think that despite technological advances and the adoption of the newest technologies, like Artificial Intelligence, the main issue faced by scholarly communication will remain to ensure the scientific rigor and the high quality of research outputs, such as publications, datasets, etc. I also hope that at the national level, we as an organisation, will be able to raise awareness of the relevant national authorities and adopt national regulations or policies, recognising the importance of Open Sciences and setting clear goals and actions to achieve them.

7. What advice would you give to someone who is just starting to explore the world of Open Science?

Communicate and be part of a community, be it institutional, national or international. OpenAIRE is an extremely supportive community, welcoming new members and instilling a culture of collaboration, communication and openness. Keep your eyes open for learning opportunities, because there is a plethora of them, the excellent OpenAIRE Bootcamp, delivered by passionate professionals, being just one of the many.

8. Outside of your work in Open Science, what are some of your personal interests or hobbies?

I enjoy tending to my plants, as I like having a part of vibrant nature in my house. Curling on the sofa with a mug of tea and a good sci-fi book is my idea of personal heaven! Otherwise, spending time with my family outdoors, playing badminton, or riding a bike are also some of my favorites.

9. Could you share a memorable experience or achievement from your journey in Open Science so far?

This is a very personal experience for me. I have spent most of my childhood in a library because my grandmother was a librarian in a small village, where I used to spend my summers. She was often telling me how she set up the library in the village in 1958 from scratch, going from door to door and explaining to people what a library is and inviting them there to read journals, newspapers, and borrow books. I also vaguely remembered that she was studying part-time at a university, to get her diploma as a librarian. Many years later, when my grandmother had already passed away, I started my PhD in Library and Information Science, interested in exploring the underlying mechanisms of what is making research visible and accessible. That was when I realised I had enrolled at the same faculty of the same university as my grandma. Almost 50 years apart, this seemed like a tribute to her. She has left a huge impact on me, so it shouldn't come as a surprise, that I also named our youngest daughter in her honor.

Thank you so much for the insightful conversation, Irina and welcome on board!