OpenAIRE role: OpenAIRE builds and relies on external services - repositories, journals, CRIS - and the content they offer. Because of a constant tension between fast dissemination and subjective data curation, poor quality metadata in repositories and journals are reflected in OpenAIRE services, such as Explore, Connect and Monitor. This causes text and data mining limitations. Repositories increasingly need to follow excellent practices as defined by the OpenAIRE Guidelines, certified through the Metadata Validator (including FAIR Assessment) and enriched via use of the Broker. On the researcher side, it is important to embed quality assurance check points in services such as Argos and Zenodo. Develop a comprehensive data and service quality assurance framework based on FAIR principles. This includes the maintenance and curation of a list of registries for R&I entities (people, organisations, repositories, services, grants, facilities). Develop a governance and implementation model for the quality assurance framework. Hardwire the quality assurance framework in key OpenAIRE services, including training. DATA AND SERVICE QUALITY ASSURANCE 14 15 RESPONSIBLE RESEARCH & CAREER ASSESSMENT THAT INCLUDES OPEN SCIENCE Responsible Research Assessment (RRA), from individual career assessment to the assessment of projects and research performing organisations and collaborations, encompasses a variety of different aims and methodologies, measurements and indicators that can greatly differ at institutional, national, and international levels. Out-dated and redundant research recogni- tion and career assessment methodologies need to be re-designed and replaced to recognise and reward new and changing forms of sharing and building on research outputs reflecting open science. Much remains to be done, but the priorities are to (a) have responsible openness permeate the entire research process, from the proposal submission and evaluation stage to final / ongoing reporting and communication, and (b) increase the capacity and prepared- ness of current research evaluation systems and infrastructure to reflect and implement this change. CHALLENGES Institutions do not make their RA processes clearly visible to all stakeholders or accessible from a single source, i.e., unified guidelines (transparency). Different disciplines, countries / regions and institutions often employ different RA methodologies and processes, making comparison hard (natural diversity of RA). Open Science practices are currently not appreciated, which hinders broad uptake by researchers. There is still a lack of incentives and rewards for researchers to make their outputs available in OA. Consensus on new metrics and indicators across disciplines and regions to support measurements of Open Science practices and impact. PRIORITY 3
OpenAIRE role: The OpenAIRE Research Graph, an open data asset for meta-research which includes different types of research results, openness metrics, usage and citations, is envisioned to play a key contribution for the New Generation Open Research Metrics Data Space 5. Moreover, the development and provision of value-added services such the Openness Profile 6, are expected to bring consensus and boost the uptake of relevant metrics. Finally, the OpenAIRE National Open Access Desks (NOADs) network commits to support the European Commission initiated Coalition on Reform- ing Research Assessment 7 in an active way by promoting and putting forward pilots in local settings. 16 Develop new and diverse approaches to enhance research assessment in a responsible way, that includes appreciation of Open Science practices based on a diverse range of metrics and indicators. Increase transparency and facilitate the sharing of best practice for responsible research assessment across Europe, but also across the world (e.g., UNESCO, Global Research Council). Develop a solid basis of curated, comprehensive and open data for new and diverse metrics and indicators. RESPONSIBLE RESEARCH & CAREER ASSESSMENT THAT INCLUDES OPEN SCIENCE 17 INNOVATION IN RESEARCH COMMUNICATION & DISSEMINATION In recent decades, there have been significant changes and innovations in research practices, methods and workflows, as a result of the technological developments and growing volumes of research data. Digital based and data intensive research is now the new norm in all aspects of research. However, several initiatives have been emerging recently trying to move beyond (or even apart from) the traditional publishing models and build a Knowledge Commons, where reusability and reproducibility are in the centre. Examples of such initiatives are microPublication, modular publishing, Notify, Peer Community in, PubFair, PubPub, executable papers, Research Compendia, Science-octopus, ROHub. Some of those initiatives build upon repositories and preprint servers, which have been spreading and growing recently. Despite the transformation from print to digital, the level of innovation in the scholarly communication system was significantly lower. Research articles, journals and monographs, are still very similar to the ones published 20 or 30 years ago and remain the main dissemination artefacts and channels. Moreover, the entire system is increasingly dominated and controlled by a small number of big publishing groups. The rather conservative systems of advancement in scholarly and academic careers continue to encourage and build on the traditional ways of reporting the results of scientific research. CHALLENGES Inclusion of all types of research contributions can be part of a dialogue and should be able to be disseminated. For years, an alternative communication system has been advocated but not yet implemented, with overlay and value added coordination services on top of distributed content and infrastructures that include curation capabilities. Lack of standards for intelligent discovery and semantics, despite growing need for markup and text and data mining tools (TDM). Support for the uptake of innovative tools and procedures by the research community, depending on policy and research assessment criteria. Coordination needed between different stakeholders, organisations (Research Performing Organisations and Funders), and across regions. Modernisation of current infrastructures (repositories and publishing platforms) to support innovative functionalities and workflows. PRIORITY 4
Support the development of novel approaches to current communication
and publication systems and promote their adoption in practice.
Seek to develop an Open Science Innovation Hub for the support and
enhancement of new and innovative tools, workflows and models related
to open scholarly communication.
OpenAIRE role: OpenAIRE has in the past focused on innovation towards the
repository infrastructure, on how to upgrade services, include new
functionalities, connect them. In a similar way it has been supporting OA
Journals and platforms. It has also been an innovator in its own services: (i)
bringing state-of-the-art, big data technologies in the aggregation; (ii) very early
on introducing text and data mining to compensate for the lack of good
metadata; (iii) challenging the status quo of bibliographic databases with the
OpenAIRE Research Graph. And it will continue to do so.
An emerging role is to be an aggregator of new ideas, enable and assist in the
funding of such ideas, and be a market mediator via the operation of an Agora
for Open Scholarly Communication Services, a community-led open
catalogue.
INNOVATION IN RESEARCH
COMMUNICATION & DISSEMINATION
18
Leverage on the existing (distributed) resources (infrastructures like
repositories, publishing platforms, libraries, staff) of research institutions.
19 MONITORING UPTAKE OF OPEN SCIENCE POLICIES There is a significant diversity of Open Science policies in Europe and around the world. Each country may have its own national policy, institutions may have developed their own roadmaps, as well as several national and European funders. These policies increasingly include a mandate for Open Science practices, particularly Open Access to publications and research data management and sharing. This transformation intensifies the need to provide an evidence-based view of the evolution of Open Science and its impact in order to facilitate stocktaking and efficient policy making. Many European countries are in the process of setting up Open Science monitoring systems that measure relevant practices and uptake. The European Open Science Cloud, ERA and UNESCO have initiatives that try to measure in some form or other the existence, progress and uptake of Open Science. The EOSC Observatory collects information on a periodic basis from EU Member States and Associate Countries through surveys; the ERA Observatory measures indicators on Open Access to publications; UNESCO has formed a Working Group on Monitoring Open Science Policies, and utilises GoSpin – the Global Observatory of Science, Technology and Innovation Policy Instruments. CHALLENGES Developing new metrics that take into account all the benefits and impact of Open Science, including economic and societal benefits. Since this is not straightforward it requires a multidisciplinary approach with tools and data that span time. Agreement on a set of common indicators for Open Science monitoring, covering all the relevant dimensions (uptake - OA publications, OA Data, Free and Open Source Software/FOSS, etc, - policies, infrastructure use, maturity, etc.). Outcomes are not transparent, and we are reliant on paywalled data. Country policies and results are not easily comparable. Results are not reproducible. PRIORITY 5
Align Open Science monitoring approaches on national and European/- global level, keeping regional and other differences in mind. Use the information assembled and linked in the OpenAIRE Research Graph to support the generation of metrics and indicators for Open Science monitoring. Equally important is the narrative about the policy and its implementation, e.g., what are the mechanisms and bodies each country uses to achieve its goals, to serve as a mutual learning exercise. OpenAIRE role: OpenAIRE has a role in delivering monitoring data via the OpenAIRE Research Graph, and indicators through the Open Science Monitor and MONITOR Dashboards services. The National Country Open Science Pages, maintained by the National Open Access Desks, provide the narrative on the what-how-who of the national policy and infrastructure environment. The newly formed Working Group on Monitoring Open Science Policies aspires to become a core mechanism for engaging with all stakeholders across Europe, to align and bring consensus on processes and methods. MONITORING UPTAKE OF OPEN SCIENCE POLICIES 20
21 4. TURNING STRATEGY INTO ACTIONS ACTION LINES FOR 2023-2025
- Make OpenAIRE infrastructure and services core elements in the Open Science ecosystem.
- Develop sustainable and innovative business and process models for Open Scholarly Communication.
- Substitue a decentralised pan-European Open Science competence centre and Helpdesk.
- Develop collaborative communities of practice that strengthen Open Science adoption through regional coordination.
- Develop and operate a hub of quality training material for open science. OpenAIRE has built a socio-technical European e-Infrastructure over its 10+ years of operations: a service provider and a network of expert organisations and people as a conduit for the efficient implementation of Open Science practices, services and policies. Moving along the three areas that have been at the core of OpenAIRE from its outset, i.e., SERVICES-TRAINING-POLICIES, there are five concrete lines of action for implementing our strategic priorities. SERVICES TRAINING POLICIES
22 ACTION LINES SUPPORTING ACTIONS SERVICES TRAINING POLICIES
- Make OpenAIRE infrastructure and services core elements in the Open Science ecosystem.
- Develop sustainable and innovative business and process models for Open Scholarly Communication.
- Develop and operate a hub of quality training material for open science.
- Support a decentralised pan-European Open Science competence centre and Helpdesk.
- Develop collabora- tive communities of practice that strength- en Open Science adoption through regional coordination. Partnerships Participation in projects
Effective organisational structure STRATEGIC PRIORITIES 2023-2025 Infrastructure for Open Scholarly Communication Data and service quality assurance Responsible research & career assessment that includes Open Science Innovation in research communication & dissemination Monitoring uptake of Open Science policies
23 ACTION LINE - SERVICES OpenAIRE has developed a suite of services which target different stages of the research cycle. These focus on supporting open scholarly communication in Europe (EOSC, Horizon Europe and other national funders), but they also serve as exemplars for other parts of the world. 2. Develop sustain- able and innovative business and process models for Open Scholarly Communication.
- Make OpenAIRE infrastructure and services core elements in the Open Science ecosystem.
24 S-1: MAKE OPENAIRE INFRASTRUCTURE AND SERVICES THE CORE ELEMENTS OF THE OPEN SCIENCE ECOSYSTEM Promote and position the OpenAIRE Guidelines as the de facto light weight standard for interoperability. Promote and position the Metadata Validator as a core tool for metadata quality and lightweight FAIR assessment. Promote the Broker service to ensure repositories and other open data sources become an integral part of the open scholarly communication infrastructure. Invest in the OpenAIRE Research Graph as a global, multilingual asset for discovery, supported by an open governance scheme. Position the OpenAIRE Research Graph at the centre of the development of an open metrics infrastructure for EOSC. Empower national & institutional CRIS systems, and emerging publishing platforms as trusted data sources and alliance partners of the Graph. Extend the OpenAIRE Research Graph with semantic information and support the development of domain specific Knowledge Graphs. Support innovations by third parties through a sandbox for prototyping innovative services on top of the OpenAIRE Research Graph. Facilitate and participate in global efforts towards the uptake of responsible research metrics and indicators with Open Science embedded in them. Invest and establish open metrics standards, services and infrastructure for usage data, citations and publishing costs. Promote and position the MONITOR Dashboard services for funders and institutions. Increase and enhance interoperability Position OpenAIRE Research Graph at the core of Open Science infrastructures in Europe and the world Contribute to the Next Generation Metrics which include Open Science