It is defined as practices aimed at breaking the barriers that prevent the free flow of knowledge produced by researchers in all disciplines, leading to an increased impact associated with wider sharing and re-use, as well as research ethics, thus building the public’s trust in science and in the reliability of scientific results.
The rapid advancement of technology today has further propelled it, spurring on the likes of the higher education ministry (MOHE), the Malaysia open science platform (MOSP) as well as Malaysian researchers to continue embracing the shift towards this new paradigm.
MOSP was formed by the Malaysia Open Science Alliance consisting of the science, technology and innovation ministry, MOHE, the health ministry, Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit and Research Universities.
MOSP’s Professor Abrizah Abdullah said it needs to be easier for researchers to fully utilise research practices by federating the scholarly publications and datasets.
“In this light, MOHE can play a significant role in encouraging and promoting MOSP to researchers under the higher education ecosystem, aiming towards enhancing understanding and assimilation of open science as part of research and innovation activities,” she said.
According to Abrizah, to fully realise the benefits of open science, MOSP will need to bring greater coherence to the incentive and regulatory systems governing research data and tools.
“By playing a coordinating role, MOSP could help researchers cut through this complexity, so they can normalise better open research practices, are empowered to share their methods and data, and tap into their full potential, safe in the knowledge that they are furthering their careers and enhancing their reputations.”
“It also ensures that the governance of the record of science and scientists that are derived from the publication process is in the hands of, or accountable to the scientific community and their institutions, which will consequently contribute towards elevating Malaysia’s visibility and outlook in avenues and platforms related to research regionally and globally,” Abrizah said.
She added because the movement is relatively new, researchers are able to decide on how to best use it, which includes the right of everyone to access information without any location or socio-economic status as barriers.
“Besides facilitating global cooperation, rapid dissemination, and information equity, the significance of the Open Science environment is that it gives rise to new types of researchers including freelance scientists and citizen researchers; new forms of disseminating research, such as through pre-print, servers and scholarly blogs; and a more inclusive and broader way of measuring scholarly reputation using profiles, instead of metrics,” she said.
Additionally, she said the movement was powerfully demonstrated during the Covid-19 pandemic, as scientists worldwide disseminated ideas, data and evidence.
“It has become a key strategy for universities and research institutions, academic libraries, and scholarly publishers to fulfil their core missions of creating, disseminating, and preserving knowledge for the benefit of society,” Abrizah said.