The University of California is promoting an open science project that makes research results freely available

The urgency and impact of the current pandemic prompted various scientific journals to decide to raise economic barriers and facilitate access to publications on Covid-19, thus helping to strengthen the vaccine development process and scientific cooperation, which is critical at the onset of the health crisis.

The above is a clear example of the importance that open science is gaining today and this means, among other things, that researchers disseminate their knowledge widely, free of charge and through online platforms, which are accessible and beneficial to all. the whole community. It is in this context today The Catholic University is implementing an innovative project in higher education that will build the foundations for the development of open science at the University of California.

Data in today’s world is essential, says Pedro Bochon, the university’s vice president for research, and that in order to make decisions of any kind it is essential to be informed and have basic information gathered through research. “Having an open science project within the university is essential to conducting research, participating in a globalized world, and to safeguarding the correct implementation of projects and the data being collected,” he says.

“Having an open science project within the university is essential to conduct research, participate in a globalized world, and to protect the correct implementation of projects and data collected” – Pedro Buchon, Vice President for Research

One of the positive effects of open science is that by sharing findings and data used in studies with other scientists, they can use them as valuable inputs in developing new knowledge or generating public policies.

“Knowledge is no longer private and is now public. It is very important that the evidence is replicable and that researchers from anywhere in the world today, tomorrow and in the future can review and re-analyze the data published by our professors,” explains pro Guillermo Marshall.

“Knowledge is no longer private and is now public. It is very important that the evidence is replicable and that researchers from anywhere in the world today, tomorrow and in the future can review and re-analyze the data published by our professors” – Rector Guillermo Marshall

national effort

The University of California’s work to facilitate free and open access to research is not new.

Of the 1,879 publications registered by the university in 2013-2020 in Latin American journals and submitted by the WoS (Web of Science) platform, a total of 1,342 publications are open access, corresponding to 71%. Through initiatives such as University of California warehouse Directorate University of California Libraries The availability of these papers to academics from around the world has been upgraded, and currently, all UCSD journals are in open access mode in University of California magazine portal.

“The new project we are implementing will allow for greater visibility and niche for scientific production,” says Evelyn Didier, director of UCLA Libraries. He adds that the paradigm shift involved in not having to pay for publication is that “knowledge is shared and data is publicly available, to make progress toward greater progress as a society”.

Didier explains that open science also means sharing data, results and protocols obtained at different stages of the research process, and facilitating scientific collaboration and communication by implementing principles called FAIR, known by its acronym in English and which in Spanish means to be found, accessible, operable Mutual and reusable.

“The new project we are implementing will allow for greater clarity and positioning of scientific production” – Evelyn Didier, Director of University of California Libraries

The two-year specifically UCLA project, led by Vice Rectory and implemented by UC Libraries, involves creating an ecosystem that facilitates the integration of searches and data availability through a new, open, and interconnected portal.

“Our goal is to create a platform where our academics can easily deposit their data in a transparent and repeatable format,” says Pro-Rector Guillermo Marshall.

Apart from the technological infrastructure, a scientific training plan that is open to the academic community and staff associated with the scientific field will be implemented. The project, awarded in the amount of $190 million, also studies the development of networks and communication channels with other relevant actors in the field of research both in Chile and abroad. In fact, the initiative will work hand in hand with Lucy Family Institute for Data and Society subordinate University of Notre Dame United States and in cooperation with Aisin University.

The promotion of open science has increasingly taken place in the Northern Hemisphere. This is how the European Union began to demand that after a certain period of time a lot of research can be published publicly in order to also ensure that the resources invested in science not only benefit society, but also speed up research and innovation. It is also one of the purposes of Horizon Europe, the European Union’s Research and Innovation Framework program for the period 2021-2027.

in Chile National Agency for Research and Development (ANED) It has also been promoting open access for several years, through initiatives such as the SciELO Chile Group. “For Anid, it is necessary to create a culture around open science, because in this way we promote the democratization of scientific knowledge, we have minimal standards of transparency and accountability to citizens and we can track the results obtained with public funds.” says Patricia Muñoz, deputy director of networking, strategy and knowledge at Anid. Likewise, it highlights that an open access policy “allows reuse of information and data, deepens collaboration between institutions and increases the quality, impact, and reliability of research in regions.”

“For Anid, it is necessary to create a culture around open science, because in this way we promote the democratization of scientific knowledge, we have minimal standards of transparency and accountability to citizens” – Patricia Muñoz, Deputy Director of Networks, Strategies and Knowledge Nest

Today, the state institution through its InES (Innovation in Higher Education) projects supports a series of initiatives led by different study houses to promote open science, among others, the University of Talca, the Catholic University of Santísima Concepción, the University of the Frontier and the University of Chile.

“Anid hopes that the implementing institutions will be able to generate and install capabilities that allow the creation of a culture around open access, with an emphasis on knowledge management, using international standards,” comments Patricia Muñoz, stressing that the idea is also for universities to train professionals, students and teachers in this matter.

digital transformation

As the data and information management that the Open Science project will include, it is also an initiative that will be closely linked to the digitization being promoted by the University of California.

“This project is fully in line with our strategic plan that promotes digital transformation within the university,” says Vice President Buchon. He adds that this effort aligns perfectly with other projects he is undertaking Data and Information Governance Department “To ensure timely access to institutional information by the University of California community and the New Initiative in Data Science, an institutional academic project whose mission is to transform the University into a state-of-the-art institution in terms of developing data- and computation-intensive research.”

As he explains, the intelligent development of the country necessarily requires an open science and also promotes quality and rigorous research, facilitating cooperation with institutions in the country and the world. He concludes, “Having this information, structured and open, is a powerful platform for trying to respond to many of the challenges we face today, which require a more connected science.”

“Having this information, structured and open, is a powerful platform for trying to respond to many of the challenges we face today, which require a more connected science”