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a new H2020 project to Address the CHALLENGES OF A TRANSFORMING SCIENCE LANDSCAPE

Did you know that the idea of “open science” came on scene, for the first time, in the late 16th and early 17th century [1]? 

However, at the 3 openauplogo 200present we are experiencing a more radical reorganization of science and research lifecycle, as societies produce amounts of knowledge unknown in previous periods of human history. We need new ways to evaluate and publish scholarly artefacts and these have been provided by Open Access and Open Scholarship. In parallel, the introduction of new technologies and media in scientific workflows has changed the “how and to whom” science is communicated, and how stakeholders interact with the scientific community.

The recently H2020 funded project OpenUP, started in June 2016, addresses key aspects and challenges of the currently transforming science landscape and aspires to come up with a cohesive framework for the review-disseminate-assess phases of the research life cycle that is fit to support and promote Open Science:
  1. REVIEW: identify and determine roles and processes for peer-review mechanisms for all types of research results (publications, data, software)
  2. DISSEMINATE: explore, identify and classify innovative dissemination mechanisms with an outreach aim towards businesses and industry, education, and society as a whole
  3. ASSESS: analyse a set of novel indicators that assess the impact of research results and correlate them of channels of dissemination.

open science creditsThe OpenUP consortium will follow a user-centred, evidence-based approach, engaging all stakeholders (researchers, publishers, funders, institutions, industry, public) in an open dialogue through a series of workshops, conferences and training. It will run a series of seven pilots involving communities from four research disciplines: life sciences, social sciences, arts & humanities, energy.

  1. Open Peer Review for Conferences 
  2. Open Peer Review for Research Data 
  3. A data journal for the Arts and Humanities 
  4. Transferring the research lifecycle to the web (Open  Science Repositories)  
  5. Addressing & reaching businesses and the public with research output 
  6. Relevance of dissemination channels and altmetrics indicators 
  7. Piratical demand as one form of impact indicator/Piratical distribution as an alternative form of reaching unexpected audiences 

In the end OpenUP will  produce a set of concrete, practical, validated policy recommendations & guidelines for national and European stakeholders, including EU institutions, a valuable tool in advancing a more open and gender-sensitive science system.

OpenUP partners bring expertise and capacity for evaluating and promoting new approaches in support of open science with decade-long experiences in establishing OA e-Infrastructures, excellent skills and innovative approaches for dissemination, impact indicators and policy design and implementation.

On the occasion of the Peer Review Week 2016 OpenUP published a number of intriguing briefs, related to the history of peer review, successful examples of the transforming peer review system, new definitions of what publishing means nowadays, the notion of reproducibility in the peer review process and its importance, and finally opportunities related to a more open Peer Review system.

All briefs are available at the OpenUP website: http://openup-h2020.eu/news/

OpenUP will provide similar insides also for other important aspects of Open Science, such as alternative evaluation indicators, innovative dissemination of research results and gender. Stay tuned!
 

 

[1] David, P. A. (2004). Understanding the emergence of ‘open science’ institutions: functionalist economics in historical context. Industrial and Corporate Change, 13(4), 571-589.