Open Science

Open science means that several parts of the research process are open and accessible for everyone to take part in and reuse. It consists of several sub-areas that together contribute to making research and scientifically based knowledge more open.

Areas within open science include:

• Open access to scientific publications, which means that these publications should be accessible and reusable for everyone.
• Open access to research data, which means that the material on which scientific results are based should be accessible and reusable for everyone.
• Open research methods, which means that the entire workflow within the research is described and made accessible.
• Open educational resources, which means that educational and teaching materials are freely shared and reused.
• Public participation in the research process, which means that the public is directly involved in research projects or various parts of the research process.
• Infrastructures that support open science, which means systems and services used to make research results, research data, and open educational resources accessible.

At the library at University West, the work focuses on the parts of open access and research data.

Research materials such as scientific publications, research data, and other research results should be published with open access and managed according to the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable).

The FAIR principles ensure that research data is searchable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable, which is important for other researchers to understand, review, and reuse them.

When publishing, researchers can collaborate with publishers, journals, or repositories to make their research results as open and FAIR as possible.

Open Science internationally 

Open science is developing in an international context. UNESCO's recommendation for open science from 2021 serves as a framework with principles and approaches to create globally equal access to scientific results and research processes. The goal is to accelerate the implementation of the global goals for sustainable development.

In connection with the work on open science, many universities and colleges have joined the initiatives on research assessment; Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA) and The Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA). These aim to jointly improve the assessment of research quality and strive to address overly simplistic and misleading quantitative assessments.

In Europe, the EU wants to create a common, open environment for FAIR and open research data through the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC). EOSC integrates existing solutions and infrastructures in the member countries for open science.

Open Science in Sweden

The Association of Swedish Higher Education Institutions (SUHF) has designed a national roadmap for open science (pdf) adopted in 2021. The goal is for Sweden to have an open science system by 2026.

In the government research bill "Research, Freedom, Future – Knowledge and Innovation for Sweden" (in Swedish) from 2020, it is established that open science increases the accessibility of publications and data, which raises efficiency and facilitates knowledge transfer. The government bill emphasizes the responsibility of universities and research funders to create incentives for open science and highlights the important role of research libraries. This is also maintained in the government's new research bill (in Swedish)from 2024.

The National Library of Sweden has developed national guidelines for open science (pdf) 2024, which are intended to support and guide universities, colleges, and research funders. The purpose is to improve coordination between actors responsible for the transition to open science in Sweden.