# ioe12 Open Science

After learning about open access in the Openness in Education course I couldn’t help but wonder how Open Science was different. Science Commons helped me to see that it is open access, just taken a little bit further. Basically any science being done, especially publicly funded research should have:

• Open access to literature
• Open access to research tools
• Data in the public domain
• Investment in open Cyberinfrastructure

Michael Nielsen’s TedX talk on open science was a great introduction and highlighted some of the benefits and barriers of open science. He used the example of a collaborative math problem that was solved online in 37 days from the collaboration of 27 People. He said that the ability to solve problems openly and collaboratively “amplify our intelligence”. However the ploymath project is unique with the high participation level. In 2005 there was a science wiki that no one contributed to. Social networks for science fail. Why? His answer was basically the same idea I mentioned with Open Access in general. We need a paradigm shift. Publishing scientific papers advances your career. No one is rewarded or being paid for sharing. The culture is currently set up to make openness in science very difficult, but the irony is that openness would make science easier in the long run. To change the culture Michael Nielsen suggested getting involved in openscience projects, starting one, or at minimum having conversations that will create awareness with public.

Wilbanks and Boyle (2006) used the example of a malaria researcher trying to conduct research within the closed system. It seems impossible that we ever make any progress at all when you think of what they must go through to get information, data, and tools needed to be successful with their research. The openscience project blog dated 9/23/11 talks about advice for how a junior faculty member wanting tenure should frame their open science work. It seems more daunting as I read more. While openness seems to be growing it also seems to be running into some pretty tough implementation problems. Changing paradigms is not a quick or easy process. I think the key with open science becoming a norm is public entities requiring it.