Open science
Digitalisation has enabled the change that is now taking place regarding accessibility to research results - it is called Open Science. Here you gain more knowledge about the concept and can learn how to find openly available research material.
What is open science?
Scientific research is essential to finding solutions to the major societal challenges that the world of today is facing. Therefore, it is important that research results, such as scientific publications and research data, are made freely accessible to everyone. Through various global initiatives open science is now being implemented.
In the past, access to most of the scientific research results produced worldwide has been restricted and the information locked behind paywalls in, for example, costly databases or journals requiring expensive subscriptions.
Today this rigid structure is starting to change. This is largely due to the concept known as Open Science. The aim of Open Science is for research data and results to become more accessible and transparent to all potential readers, as well as enable reuse of the information in later research.
Open Science is a concept that encompasses multiple aspects of research; this includes open access to publications (Open Access), open research data (Open Data), open source (Open Source Software), open educational resources and citizen science (where the public participates in and contributes to research). The two most prominent areas are open access to publications and open research data.
The Swedish Government's statement concerning Open Science
In Sweden, the open science movement has resulted in a research and innovation bill presented by the government in 2020, which states that:
...scientific publications resulting from publicly funded research shall be immediately openly available with effect from 2021. As regards research data, the transition shall be fully implemented by 2026, which means that research data shall be made available as openly as possible and as limited as necessary."
-(Prop. 2020/21:60, p. 101)
Coordination of the work on open science in Sweden
The National Library of Sweden (Kungliga biblioteket) has been commissioned by the government to coordinate the transition to, and promote nationwide work with, Open Access to publications. The Swedish Research Council is set to do the same in regard to Open Access to research data.
The higher education institutions in Sweden work to support researchers in managing, storing, making available and preserving research results.
- Open access
External link, opens in new window.
The National Library of Sweden (in Swedish) - Open access to research data External link, opens in new window.
The Swedish Research Council
Condition for Open Science
The researcher manages his or her copyright of the research material by using a so-called open license. The license outlines how the material can be used, processed, and disseminated; provided that the researcher is identified as the author. One commonly used open license model is the Creative Commons (CC) licenses.
- When we share, everyone wins - Creative Commons External link, opens in new window.
Learn more about Creative Commons licenses.
More on Open Science
- Forskning, frihet, framtid – kunskap och innovation för Sverige (regeringen.se)
External link.
The Swedish Government’s research bill 2020/21:60 (in Swedish) - Open Science - UNESCO External link.
In 2021, UNESCO and its 193 member states adopted a global recommendation for Open Science. It contains a definition of the principles of Open Science, as well as an outline of the work ahead. - Open Science - European Commission (europa.eu) External link.
The EU has adopted an open science policy; it includes several initiatives to make it easier for researchers to store, manage, share and use research results. - English-portal - Vetenskap & Allmänhet (v-a.se) External link.The Swedish non-profit association Vetenskap och Allmänhet (Science and public) aims to promote dialogue and openness between the general population and researchers by, for example, informing the public about ongoing citizen research projects.
How the University Library works with open science
At the university library, we spread knowledge and provide support regarding Open Science to our users. The researchers at Luleå University of Technology can contact the university library with questions about publishing openly accessible. Students and the public are supported in finding the open resources.
“Luleå University of Technology supports and works for the transition to an open scientific society and the principle of Open Science”
This quote is taken from the university's Publishing Policy, which sets out the guidelines that researchers must adhere to when it comes to publishing research results. According to the policy, researchers employed at the university are recommended to publish in Open Access journals or, when this is not possible, to publish the full text of their article in the university's digital archive, which is accessible to all. Publications that are not journal articles must be made available in full text in the university's digital archive, the publication database.
Support for researchers at Luleå University of Technology
The University Library works to inform and provide support to researchers on how to act in order to publish openly. The library provides support in which publishers the university has open access agreements with, how the researcher should determine the quality and seriousness of a journal, how publishing costs work and how the researcher should think about open licenses to protect their copyright. In the same way, the library supports researchers in managing and publishing their research data so that it meets the requirements for accessibility, reusability and transparency.
Support for everyone
The library works to provide information on how you as a citizen should do to gain access to Open Access material.
Below you can find different ways to access Open Access publications.
Open access to publications
The societal benefit and transparency of research as well as the opportunity for researchers to build on previous research results increases when scientific publications become available in full text through a search on the internet.
What is open access to publications?
Creating open access to scientific publications is an important part of Open Science, in short it is called Open Access. Scientific publications come in forms of articles, books, conference papers, dissertations and reports.
In the past, these publications have been available through libraries or other institutions that have paid for subscriptions, purchased books and made dissertations and other publications available.
Open Access provides the opportunity to find scientific publications in full text online. It creates direct access to research results regardless of which journals and books a specific institution or authority can pay for.
It is of great importance to the research community that research results can be evaluated, tested and be the basis for new steps in research. Open Access is also important for the rest of society such as authorities, municipalities, regions, companies and the general public.
- Read more about open access to publications External link, opens in new window.
What is open access? - Royal Library - National Library of Sweden - kb.se
Scientific articles
The change that is underway when it comes to electronic articles is about redirecting from a reading fee to a publishing fee. This means that the publisher charges the researcher a publication fee that covers peer reviewing and publishing of the article. The article then becomes available to everyone to read for free. The open license for the publication states how the material may be used, processed and distributed.
Predatory publishers
The downside of open access is what has come to be known as predatory journals. Predatory journals attract with fast Open Access publication for a fee, but they do not follow accepted working methods for scientific journals, they do not offer for example peer review.
Three models for Open Access
Currently, there are journals whose articles are directly Open Access, but also journals that offer some of their articles Open Access while others are locked and can be accessed if you have a subscription.
The third model is that the journal allows the researcher to archive a copy of the article in an open digital archive. Most higher education institutions in Sweden have an open digital archive, and there is a national publication database that contains publications from all over Sweden.
- Databases
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Here you get the tools to find openly available articles and open digital archives. - Think-Check-Submit - a tool for identifying credible journals External link.
Think-Check-Submit helps you assess whether a journal or publisher is trustworthy.
Scientific e-books
Publishing scientific results within a defined subject in a book or, as it is called, monograph is important in certain research disciplines such as the humanities and social sciences. There is currently a lack of a national standard for peer review and a financing model for switching to publishing fee and offering Open Access to books. But several initiatives to address this are underway.
- E-books
Learn about how to find e-books with Open Acces
Open access to research data
Making the data used in scientific studies openly available enables research results to be replicated and reused in new research.
What is open access to research data?
Research data is the data that has been collected or created during the course of research and is used in scientific studies. Examples of research data: measurement data, calculations, text data, interviews, survey results, images, videos, maps.
When this data is published with free access via the internet, it provides an opportunity for everyone to use it to validate the produced data and build on research results. Open Data is a key part of Open Science.
- Learn more about Open Data External link.
Open access to research data - Vetenskapsrådet (vr.se)
How do I find research data that is openly available?
Research data is organized and published in digital catalogues, so-called repositories. There are both national and international repositories as well as subject-specific ones.
- Swedish National Data Service (SND) External link, opens in new window.
Swedish National Data Service (SND) is the national repository if you are interested in data produced in Sweden. - Researchdata.se External link.
- re3data External link, opens in new window.
Via re3data you can search for specific repositories based on the topics you are interested in.
Open Source Software
The source code that forms the basis for the software produced in research is considered to be a type of research data and therefore it needs to be made available and be possible to reuse and evaluate. The principles of Open Source Software (OSS) can be used to ensure that research software is made available, reviewed, processed and improved.
How do I find Open Source Software?
By using publicly available digital directories, so-called repositories, you can search for various Open Source Software created by others.
Here are examples of large international repositories:
What should I consider when I want to use Open Data and Open Source?
Respect licensing terms (Creative Commons is often used) and source reference practices when reusing software created by others.
- Read more about Creative Commons licenses External link.
- Learn how to cite correctly
University Library pages on referencing
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