Open science and research roadmap 2014–2017

This text is from the document science and research leads to surprising discoveries and creative insights - Open science and research roadmap 2014–2017: Reports of the Ministry of Education and Culture, Finland 2014:21

Summary

This roadmap is based on the work of the Open Science and Research Initiative (ATT), a cross-administrative initiative established by the Ministry of Education and Culture, whose goal is to promote open science and the availability of information. Open science means the promotion of an open operating model in scientific research. The key objective is, subject to the restrictions of research ethics and the juridical environment, to publish research results, research data and the methods used, so that they can be examined and used by any interested party. Open science includes practices such as promoting open access publishing, openly publishing research materials, harnessing open-source software and open standards, and the public documentation of the research process through ’memoing’.

Open science and research can significantly increase the quality and competitiveness of Finland’s research and innovation system. By increasing openness in research, we will simultaneously be improving reliability, transparency, and the impact of research. Openness also creates opportunities to participate in scientific advancement, and enables easier and more effective utilisation of research results. Promoting open science and research requires not only extensive involvement from the research community, but also cooperation and coordination, internalising new ways of working, and developments in research environments, researcher services and research infrastructures.

Our vision for 2017 is: Open research leads to surprising discoveries and creative insights. This means a situation in which research data and materials move freely throughout society; from one researcher or research team to another, between disciplines, to innovative businesses, and to decision-makers and citizens. Information flow is facilitated by clear policies and best practices, and by providing services to safeguard the availability of scientific and research results. Openness is a joint operating model. Openness has given Finnish research an international competitive edge.

Research results (publications, data, methods and the tools required to publish) will be openly and permanently available in data networks via standardised interfaces in accordance with ethical principles and respecting legal operating environments. Openness within research infrastructures will always be pursued when it is legally and contractually possible. Further use of research results is not unnecessarily restricted, and the terms and conditions of their use are clearly defined.

The objectives of the Open Science and Research Initiative (ATT) are to make Finland the leading country for openness in science and research by 2017, and for the opportunities afforded by open science to be extensively harnessed in Finnish society. Dialogue in science and research will be promoted on many levels, both nationally and internationally. The roadmap will be implemented via four sub-objectives, which are:

• reinforcing the intrinsic nature of science and research, so that openness and repeatability increase the reliability and quality of science and research.
• strengthening openness-related expertise, so that those working in the Finnish research system know how to harness the opportunities afforded by openness to boost Finland’s competitive edge.
• ensuring a stable foundation for the research process, so that good, clear basic structures and services enable new opportunities to be harnessed at the right time and ensure a stable basis for research.
• increasing the societal impact of research, so that open science creates new opportunities for researchers, decision-makers, business, public bodies and citizens.

A set of measures has been defined to achieve these sub-objectives. To realise our vision, all parties must engage in extensive cooperation to implement these measures. Using the measures in this roadmap, various parties will take responsibility for putting policies into practice. We will gauge our success in achieving targets by monitoring the progress and impact of individual measures. Monitoring will also be promoted by increasing visibility, by analysing shared sets of basic information, with impact assessments, and through the required support functions and analyses.