Category Archives: Open Science

E-media, Events, Open Science, Science

Open Access: Yes – but not at any cost!

Open Access Week 2024

Open Access Week 2024 – Change my mind!

The panelists agree on the fact that “Open Access is important and the right way” – but not at all costs.

Adherents of Chemnitz University of Technology on the fields of research and teaching, junior scientists and students met the Open Science Team last week within the International Open Access Week

On Monday, Magdalena Lemke from the Open Science Initiative of the Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences started within an event of the student initiative “Critical Introduction Days” (KRETA) with a sceptic question and a reflected answer: “Science for All? Open Science and capitalist structures”. Within the workshop, not only interesting information about objectives of Open Science, the history of Open Access and current developments were presented – but also critical topics like high publication charges and the re-emerging monopoly position of some publishers were intensively discussed.

The day after, the Open Science Team made the more or less provocative assumption “All research results shall be open to the public. CHANGE MY MIND!”. This statement provoked discussions – some were immediately convinced, others questioned this assumption and talked about barriers and doubts. In that way, a valuable exchange resulted enabling a mutual insight in the publication culture and practice of different subjects on the one hand and in the (Open Science) services of the Library on the other.

On Thursday, the Open Science Team met with invited speakers and interested persons for a controversial discussion. The contributions included criticism towards excessive charges for Open Access articles as well as the partly deficient quality of peer review-procedures applying to Open Access- as well as to Non-Open Access-journals. In particular, the business practices of the Open Access-publisher MDPI was criticized. The mass sending of emails to authors inviting for publication, editorial activities or reviews were judged as especially annoying. However, the publisher also includes recognized journals with high impact and DOAJ-Seal (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) as quality label. For this reason, a particularly comprehensive check of the respective journal is recommendable.

Extremely high article processing charges such as raised by Nature may exclude certain user groups from publication. In this context, the publishers argue with their high editorial expenses. Research results may be made openly accessible currently also without costs on preprintservers. However, in general they are not reviewed. In addition, publishers and/ or Academies of Sciences may offer scientific publications of particularly high quality in the form of special editions or generate added value by abstracts. The particularly challenging publishing conditions for doctoral students were aborded as well. Severe time constraints may force for selection of publishers with short review delays. A comment from the audience addressed also cumulative academic works which have to be published in compliance with legal regulations. In the end, the interesting discussion had to be terminated for the moment due to time restrictions. The event was a successful start for a mutual exchange which has to be continued in any case.

The dedication of awards to Open Access-pioneers at Chemnitz University of Technology was the conclusion and the highlight of the activities within the Open Access Week. Awards in different categories rewarded the engagement on different paths to Open Access: the Green Way (publications in repositories, 2023), the Golden Way (publications in Gold-Open Access-journals, 2023) and the Diamond Way (management of the Open Access-journal “Journal for Semiotics”) being published as print by Stauffenburg Publishing. The editors, Professur Fricke and Dr. Siefkes, were awarded for their successful negotiations for time-shift Open Access-publishing of the editions.

Awarded as well was the first University Library-funded Open Access monograph “Deutsche Jüd_innen in Chile: Bürger:innenwerdung im Kontext von historischen Verflechtungen und Rassismusinformationen“ by Dr. Ana Maria Troncoso. This book will be shortly available at Transcript Publishing with the license CC BY 4.0.

We thank all participants for the interesting conversations, opinions and discussions and are looking forward to jointly further promote and enhance Open Science.

Open Science, Science

8 reasons why you should start with Citizen Science

Group of people working together in a library

Group of people working in a library (Image generated with ChatGPT, 2024 – https://chat.openai.com)

Citizen science – the active involvement of non-scientists in research projects – is not just a modern approach, but a revolutionary step that can transform science from the inside out. Here are eight reasons why you should start Citizen Science now.

1. Leave the ivory tower: Democratizing science through participation

Citizen science is an opportunity to break down the boundaries between science and society. By actively involving citizens in your research, you create transparency and enable open access to scientific processes. (cf. BMBF (2023): Partizipationsstrategie Forschung. URL: https://www.bmbf.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/de/2023/partizipationsstrategie.html [18.09.2024] – in German only)

2. Strengthen the community: Democracy needs cross-group research

A functioning democracy thrives on participation and encounters. Citizen science promotes precisely this by bringing together people from different social classes, ages and regions. With Citizen Science, you create spaces for cross-group research and enable interested parties to actively participate in scientific projects. (On the topic of personal encounters in everyday life, see: Manthe, Rainald (2024): Demokratie fehlt Begegnung. Über Alltagsorte des sozialen Zusammenhalts. Bielefeld: transcript. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783839471418)

3. Improving science communication: Entering into dialog

Citizen science is an important step towards improving science communication. By working together with laypersons in the scientific process, a dialog is created in which the significance and benefits of scientific findings become visible. This helps to promote understanding of scientific methods and reduce the mistrust that often exists related to research. (on the dialogical research process: Bogusz, Tanja (2020): Kollaboratives Forschen. In: Selke, Stefan et al: Handbuch Öffentliche Soziologie. Öffentliche Wissenschaft und gesellschaftlicher Wandel. Wiesbaden: Springer VS. DOI: doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-16995-4)

4. Using resources: Simply collect data (or have it collected)

One visible advantage of citizen science is the possibility of collecting data together in a simple and cost-effective way. Whether it is environmental observations, historical documentation or the enrichment of large data sets, citizen science extends your range and allows you to collect data that would be difficult to access or too costly on your own. (but see critically on data management skills of citizen scientists: O’Grady, M. & Mangina, E. (2024): Citizen scientists-practices, observations, and experience. In: Humanities and Social Sciences Communications. Vol. 11, DOI: doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-02966-x)

5. Acquiring funding: Participation as a plus point in the application

Funding institutions are placing more and more emphasis on participatory approaches in science. Proving that your research is not only important for the scientific community, but also for the public, significantly increases your chances of success when applying for funding. (see Wissenschaft im Dialog gGmbH (2024): mit:forschen! Gemeinsam Wissen schaffen: Förderinstrumente. URL: https://www.mitforschen.org/citizen-science/handbuch/foerderinstrumente [18.09.2024])

6. Do more than manage (open) science: Putting creativity and discussion at the heart of research

The increasing bureaucratization of science often means that researchers spend more time managing projects than actually doing research. Citizen science is also about re-engaging in the creative process and discussing research through meaningful networking. (see Leonelli, Sabina (2023): Philosophy of Open Science. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 67-68. DOI: doi.org/10.1017/9781009416368)

7. Gaining new insights: Through manifold perspectives

Volunteers who participate in science projects often bring new, unexpected perspectives and local knowledge to the table. This fresh perspective can lead to innovative insights that might not emerge in purely academic projects. (see also the concept of open innovation in economics: Pohl, Alexander & Engel, Berit (2021): Open Innovation. SSystematische Darstellung des State of the Art auf Basis einer Zitationsanalyse. In: CENTIM Working Papers. No. 2. Rheinbach: Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg. DOI: doi.org/10.18418/978-3-96043-092-6)

8. Developing current research questions: Research with social relevance

By involving citizens in your research, you can develop relevant and practical research questions that address the actual needs and challenges of society. This allows you to conduct research that is not only of interest on an academic level, but also solves concrete problems and improves people’s everyday lives. (as an example: Overgaard, Anne Kathrine & Kaarsted, Thomas (2018): A New Trend in Media and Library Collaboration within Citizen Science? The Case of ‘A Healthier Funen’. In: Liber Quarterly. Vol. 28. DOI: doi.org/10.18352/LQ.10248)

Conclusion: Citizen Science as a path to future-oriented research

Citizen science is more than just a new trend – it is a transformative movement that is fundamentally changing the way science is done. By involving amateur researchers in your projects, you not only create more transparency and participation, but also contribute to solving societal challenges. Take the opportunity to break new ground with Citizen Science.

—————————

Current information, for example on funding instruments, data management in projects and legal and ethical issues, you find on these central platforms:

Looking for support?

Get in touch with the Open Science Team at the University Library:

Davide Del Duca: davide.del-duca@bibliothek.tu-chemnitz.de | Telefon: +49 371 531-36501 | Chat/Matrix: https://matrix.to/#/@dadel:tu-chemnitz.de

Martina Jackenkroll: martina.jackenkroll@bibliothek.tu-chemnitz.de | +49 371 531-33482

Formulated and translated with support of Chat.GPT and DeepL

Innovation & Technology, Open Science, Science

OpenAlex: a free alternative to Scopus and Web of Science?

Scientific research tools such as Scopus, Web of Science or Dimensions have now become established. Many researchers have stored complex search queries in their favourite database. However, the cost of these platforms is a significant item in the budgets of libraries and research institutions.

What if there was a bold, free alternative to these expensive tools? Actually, there is, and there has been for some time, but only recently has it started to gain traction: OpenAlex.

OpenAlex can be defined as “a fully open catalogue of the global research system”. It has been maintained by OurResearch since around mid-2021 and the data comes from the Microsoft Academic Graph, Crossref, institutional repositories (via OAI-PMH) and much more. OpenAlex has access to a large amount of data and is based on persistent IDs (DOIs, ORCID, ROR, etc.).

Don’t be fooled by the minimalist interface and the absence of corporate design colours. OpenAlex concentrates on the essentials and does its job very well. Until a few months ago, queries could only be made via the API. Now it has a graphical user interface that is constantly being updated and improved. I have an account where I can save my queries. I find it simple and useful, but perhaps it is still too little for a researcher. However, development continues.

I then ran some tests and entered the name of TU Chemnitz to see the results:

Here the results from Scopus:

Very good. We have about 6,000 more results than Scopus. However, this does not mean that all the works displayed are actually related to Chemnitz University of Technology. Quality control still needs to be improved in OpenAlex. However, I was also impressed by the presence of some graphics.

If you are a researcher, I invite you to enter your name in OpenAlex and check that all the data is correct. It is also possible to calculate your own H-index with this script in Jupyter Notebook (if you need help, write to me).

I also tested this script, which uses the data from OpenAlex to show which co-operations TU Chemnitz has with other universities worldwide. Here is the result:

This is only a first approach to OpenAlex, and it is necessary to deepen the knowledge of the data structure and quality control. There is a lot of potential in it and its possibilities are currently limited, but it is an interesting project and it is worth giving it a chance.

Open Science

Do you know B!SON? – new tools make Open Science easy

In our case B!SON doesn’t stand for a wild animal, but for a recommendation service for
quality-assured Open Access Journals.

american bison

American Bison, Marco Verch, Creative Commons 2.0

Due to the enormous increase in the number of new publishing offerings, it is difficult for authors to make the most suitable selection. B!SON was developed by TIB Hannover and SLUB Dresden. The tool is open, free of charge and web-based.

Den Beitrag weiterlesen Do you know B!SON? – new tools make Open Science easy →

Open Science

How does Open Access influence science and how do I find the perfect journal or book?

The first question has been answered by a literature study conducted by the TIB Leibniz Information Centre for Technology and Natural Sciences on empirical papers 2010-2021. The following fields of impact were examined:

Attention in science, quality of scientific publications, knowledge transfer, productivity, use of publications, diversity and economic effects.

The results confirm the known advantages of OA in six areas of impact. Only the often-mentioned citation advantage of OA could not be clearly confirmed empirically – but neither could it be refuted.
At the same time, it was recognised that there is a need for further research, e.g. on the influence of OA on the career opportunities of researchers.

Den Beitrag weiterlesen How does Open Access influence science and how do I find the perfect journal or book? →

Innovation & Technology, Open Science

Why your research career needs a Persistent Identifier

A Persistent Identifier is a kind of number plate that we wear in the web. After all, we use PIDs on a daily basis in our analogue world, such as when we are asked for our identity card number. Only here we are on the web. Fortunately behind a Persistent ID there is an organization that ensures its persistence over time. At this point someone might reply that the address of a website is a persistent ID. Wrong, because behind it there is not always an association to ensure its long-term durability.

A PID is “a code which remains constant as a means of identifying a digital object regardless of changes to its location on the internet”.

 

Den Beitrag weiterlesen Why your research career needs a Persistent Identifier →