Google Docs Session Notes
Framing power: Tracing key discourses in Open Science policiesAuthors: Denisse Albornoz, Maggie Huang, Issra Marie Martin, Maria Mateus, Aicha Yasmine Touré, Leslie ChanOpen Science is becoming a popular policy object around the world. We question the extent to which Open Science is becoming an “empty” rhetoric tool that serves as a instrument to strengthen powerful institutions and the discursive hegemonies that sustain them. This study sought to identify key narratives about Open Science in policy, and critically assess the extent to which they affect multi-layered domination and inequality schemes that pre-exist in scientific knowledge production. To do so, we conducted a content analysis of Open Science policies stemming from Europe, North America, Latin America and Africa to understand how narratives about Open Science policies are produced, reproduced and by whom; and in turn whose interests are neglected in this process. We found that OS policies are predominantly stemming from Europe, and promoting a technocentric and modernization approach to Open Science that risks widening power imbalances in scientific production.
Data driving sustainability - the African Open Science Platform projectAuthors: Ina Smith, Academy of Science of South Africa; Susan Veldsman, Academy of Science of South AfricaExploitation of the digital revolution offers great potential for less affluent and least economically developed countries (LEDCs) and for the attainment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. However, LEDCs typically have poorly resourced national research systems. If they cannot participate in research based on big and open data, the gap could grow exponentially in coming years. They will be unable to collect, store and share data, unable to participate in the global research enterprise, unable to contribute as full partners to global efforts on climate change, health care, and resource protection, and unable to fully benefit from such efforts, where global solutions will only be achieved if there is global participation. Thus, both emerging and developed countries have a clear and direct interest in helping to fully mobilize LEDC science potential and thereby to contribute to achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The initiative described here (African Open Science Platform or AOSP) is directed towards minimising a divide between emerging and developed countries in what is arguably the most important current opportunity to enhance the power and efficiency of the scientific enterprise and its contribution to societal benefit.
Open Science practices adopted by Latin American & Caribbean open access journals
Authors: Andre Luiz Appel, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro; Ivonne Lujano, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México; Sarita Albagli, Instituto Brasileiro de Informação em Ciência e Tecnologia
The objective of this study is to investigate how Open Science (OS) values and practices have influenced open access (OA) journals publishers in Latin American and the Caribbean (LA&C). Our key questions regarding this issue are: a) to what extent are these practices being adopted by LA&C journals? b) what are the corresponding decision-making processes of scientific publishers? c) are there any public policies in LA&C currently supporting the adoption of these practices? d) what are the possible impacts of these practices (e.g., increased number of articles submissions, greater visibility, indexing of journals, and others)?. In order to answers these questions, we conducted a survey with a sample of LA&C journals obtained from the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) database. From a population of 1,900 journals distributed among 19 LA&C countries listed by UNESCO, we randomly selected a sample of 322 based on a confidence interval of 95% and a margin of error of 5%, distributed per country proportionally. We distributed questionnaires over e-mail in the beginning of March and received a total of 55 full responses. The results reveal that much journals are somewhat aware of or informed about most of open science practices being discussed, but just some of them have already successfully implemented some practices.
