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# Key Themes in Open Science

August 22, 2013
by JulietR
0 Comment

Open Access publishing is only one of a number of practices that come under the heading of ‘Open Science’ and so, as research moves into this more open world, it seems appropriate to provide a brief introduction to Open Science more generally. In this post we present excerpts from two keynotes at the Rigour and Openness in 21st Century Science conference in April 2013, which outline the key themes and concerns in this emerging field.

The first five excerpts are from the presentation by Sir Mark Walport, Chief Scientific Adviser to HM Government. They begin with what Sir Mark describes as a ‘taxonomy’ of Open Science, in which OA publishing can be positioned relative to the activities of data collection and making those data widely available. (01:40)

Sir Mark then extends this taxonomy by outlining how raw data is transformed into knowledge that can be applied for societal benefit. (01:26)

Still on the theme of data, Sir Mark presents the position that scientific data should be open by default. However, he acknowledges that, while generally beneficial, openness also has its challenges. Recent high-profile examples illustrate both positive and problematic consequences. (05:15)

Turning next to scientific method, Sir Mark argues that, although openness does not automatically guarantee rigour and reproducibility, it offers tools that can facilitate these two aspects of method that were not available before. (02:28)

In the final excerpt from this keynote, Sir Mark returns to the theme of open data in order to address the issues of privacy and confidentiality that can result from making data open. He outlines the recommendations of a recent government task force that investigated ways to facilitate the safe use, for research purposes, of administrative data. (01:47)

Ensuring privacy and confidentiality is one of five challenges to shaping a policy on open data described by the Rt Hon David Willetts, Minister of State for Universities and Science, in his closing keynote. The others include a legal framework for text and data mining, creating a technological infrastructure, and the curation of open data. (7:34)

#### Further information:

You can find the full-length presentations from which these excerpts were taken, together with all of the other talks at the Rigour and Openness conference, in the Open Science collection on the Oxford Podcasts website and on Oxford iTunes U.

You may also be interested in the Open Science Training Initiative, a programme designed in Oxford to introduce graduate research students to the methods of Open Science and, in particular, the issue of reproducibility.

With thanks to Joanna Wild for selecting these excerpts and to the Podcasting team in IT Services for creating the clips from the original video files.

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