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Rewards and Incentives for Open Science: A global registry, a global collaboration

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Rewards and Incentives for Open Science: A global registry, a global collaboration
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The Open Science Conference 2021 is the 8th international conference of the Leibniz Research Alliance Open Science. The annual conference is dedicated to the Open Science movement and provides a unique forum for researchers, librarians, practitioners, infrastructure providers, policy makers, and other important stakeholders to discuss the latest and future developments in Open Science.
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Transcript: English(auto-generated)
Okay now without further ado we have the great pleasure this morning we have two distinguished speakers for us. First we'll be hearing from Hilary Hanehoj and then second from Celine Heinel. Our first speaker with Hilary and as Klaus said yesterday we are informal so we can go with first-name bases even if we have many professors, directors and doctorates. But Hilary I
wanted to say just a few words about you and your organization. Hilary is with the Research Data Alliance in beautiful Italy and the Research Data Alliance which is known as the RDA is a research community organization started back in 2013 by the European Commission the American National Science Foundation
and National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Australian Department of Innovation so it really was a very very global innovation. Its mission is to build the social and technical bridges to enable open sharing of data and it continues to grow. The RDA has over
9,000 individual members from 137 countries. Absolutely fantastic success in the past couple of years. Today Hilary will talk about rewards and incentives for open science, a global registry, a global collaboration. The
registry is currently being designed and developed in an open and collaborative way. So without further ado Hilary can you see and hear me okay? I can David can you hear me? We hear you fantastic, wonderful. And I know you're in Italy could you tell me exactly where you are in Italy? Oh I'm in a tiny little village of 6,000 inhabitants called Cauci which is
just outside Pisa so it's central Italy. Very close to the leading tower. Very good and one thing that you would say in your town that you I know it's next to Pisa but in your town in your city something to see or something special about it. Yeah we're so fortunate here we have an amazing what
they call I think they translated in English into a charter house so it's a fantastic old monastery but it has the largest national history museum in Italy. So in our tiny little village we have that wonderful place to visit.
Wonderful I mean I love Germany but one of my big reasons for loving it is being so close to Italy beautiful country very good okay then without further ado two things also to our audience as we did yesterday please feel free to bring in the questions and we'll go through with that that's a great job and I think without further ado to both our speakers we have
about 20 minutes for the talk and then about 10 minutes for Q&A so Hilary please the digital stage is yours. Thank you so much David and there's my slides so thank you very much to the organizers for this very kind invitation to speak to you all this morning or this evening or wherever you
are in the world thank you for joining us I saw some figures yesterday that showed a wonderful participation and as an organization the Research Data Alliance that itself organizes virtual or meetings on a six monthly basis
we've gone virtual too and while the disappointing part is that we can't all sit and look at each other and I can't see your faces as I speak to see are you interested or would like me to move on and on the other hand virtual meetings are allowing many many more people to access and to listen to
the things that we have to say and to learn and to share experiences so that's the upside of this downside so and I would like to talk to you this morning about a global collaboration a registry for rewards and incentives for open science or indeed we probably should be it's probably better to call
it a research assessment registry. Of course I'm not alone in this quest
of course as you can see there's a powerhouse of directors and people ladies of course supporting in this volunteer effort at this moment in time and each of us have our day jobs and things like that but why are we all
doing this well as the story progresses as I talk to you for these next few minutes you'll see that there is the context and a background to why many of us are involved in it at the moment but of course also I think I could say from working with these wonderful group of people is also the
real understanding that this is a must. What we propose and what we are working together with many many others around the world to do is something that is really fundamentally required now so but I do want to give a shout out to them because it's truly as I said a volunteer effort on their behalf. So why does all
of this matter? Well I mean you know the conference is the Open Science Conference so I hope that I am preaching if you like to the converted about you know open science is really fundamental it's been talked about for many years we hear and we see that there has been lots of progress
particularly with the pandemic that we are all living in and it has you know driven us to reflect more and to actually practice it more but it's true that you know there's still many challenges and I think Anna in her
wonderful opening presentation yesterday presenting and telling giving us updates on the UNESCO activities show you know said that there are many many complexities there are many challenges many nuances to the whole open science and open research aspect and one of the things that I loved are the things
that I'd like to pick up it's not a quote because I'm not sure if I word it exactly but she did say that looking to the future young scientists are keen to share you know it's in their DNA and we know that now there we are there the digital if you like generation but career assessment and how they're valued within the institutions are not in line with the
open science policies and the practices that are being proposed and that are being you know shared and I saw yesterday while I was watching the Twitter feed on the open science and you and Bernie who's a you know a wonderful scientist himself had that lovely quote to say you know open shared data simply data
simply realizes synergies for science it's as simple as that science is best done in the open so really the thing is that we all advocate for open science and but again the people on the ground the scientists and the researchers
involved we talk about how they need a cultural and behavioral change but we need to support that that's on us those of us who are in a position to do so who are working in this field we need to help them to do that and we must practice what we preach we have to be open and we have to be
transparent and we have to allow them you know in the assessment in the change around rewards and incentives we must show and demonstrate and illustrate the practices and that are going on in the world so that they can learn from
So what are the origins of this? Well open science is So the background if you like for this registry that I will talk to you about comes from of course work that was done over four years by the Open Science Policy Platform
and one of the I extracted a quote if you like from the report which I like the last part of it that open science must ultimately be embedded as part of a larger and more systemic effort to foster all practices and processes that enable the creation the contribution
the discovery and the reuse of research knowledge in a reliable effective and equitable way and it can't research science that can't be excellent we can't ask for excellent science without these sorts of attributes at their core. So this as I said the shift
if you like to open science within this Open Science Policy Platform was set up in 2016 and by the European Commission and it had a series of I think it's over 25 different stakeholders who represented many many different pan European and global in the case of the Research Data Alliance
and others and organizations to discuss and to talk and make recommendations on open science and they in the first mandate so it was split into two mandates in 2016 and 2018 they delivered a series of recommendations and of course the challenge in adoption
was already very very apparent then that the current evaluation system forces researchers to focus on the research articles and to seek publication in high impact venues and that is clearly not incentivizing open research open science behaviors
and in the second mandate from 2018 and 2020 the focus then in it together with other things was on the shift how to shift the focus of rewards and incentives and to support this uptake of next generation metrics.
So the report which is really available on the internet the progress on open science towards a shared research knowledge system and had these two fundamental recommendations which are the basis for why we talk today and why we started the work on this Research Assessment Registry.
So the platform itself called for pilots and implementations of responsible metrics and made a clear call for the creation of a registry to support these assessment and mechanism practices. So just while you wonder well why is the Research Data Alliance involved in this
David gave you a slide in the introduction to me this morning. David mentioned the organization that I work for the Research Data Alliance. I am very proud and very honored to be the Secretary General of a wonderful global community
of over 11,500 individuals and data practitioners from across 146 countries across the globe. We have over 60 organizations who are members and who support the work. But fundamentally the Research Data Alliance is an international.
It's a community driven and a volunteer organization. And as I said we have this global community of data practitioners and experts that are committed to the principles of open science of open research of fair data and they work together in different ways to build these technical and social bridges.
And RDA is founded on six fundamental guiding principles of openness of consensus that things are community driven that there's harmonization and inclusivity in all that's done and all that's produced and that it's not for profit and technology neutral. And so the Research Data Alliance among all the group of organizations that were in the policy platform
offered to spearhead and coordinate this work in a collaborative, cooperative and co-creative way. And that is how we work and that is how we intend to support this alliance.
So just let me be very clear it's not the Research Data Alliance's registry. It is the community's registry but somebody needs to support it and coordinate it and together with the colleagues and their organizations that I showed at the beginning and more besides we are driving ahead with this.
So what already exists you know there's lots and lots of there are lots of things. So what really exists? Well we know that there are many, many high level expert groups have been formed around different aspects and it just goes to show the complexity of the issue that we're dealing with.
There are many reports and surveys out there, frameworks and policies that you know can go to support the thing. Of course DORA who are involved the Declaration of Research Assessment are fundamental and have been working you know in for many, many years on this and it's been signed
as you can see their declaration by over 2000 organizations and they have a huge network of individuals that support it. At the moment indeed if you go and visit their website you'll see a wonderful series of case studies on reimagining academic assessment and stories of innovation and change
which are being compiled together with European University Association and Spark Europe who are involved in this as well and who you any of you who followed yesterday would have heard Vanessa's wonderful outline of the difficult realm of infrastructures and sustainability of these fundamental infrastructures.
But DORA will by the way together with those two organizations be running a webinar on the 25th of February if you want to know more about the case studies. But just to say that the DORA involvement in this is key, it's fundamental, it's crucial and it is very much there. So that's you know another global example.
There are many, many programs and policies around that we know of and that are starting up. I'm going to pick if you like on the Dutch Rewards and Recognition Program as an exemplar of national level policies and here in Europe the Dutch are always quite advanced
in terms of their activities and I think that you know there are a couple of things that I wanted to highlight from their program. The idea that you know a system of this type, a new system of rewards and recognition and incentives should enable diversification, the vitalization of careers, that it must acknowledge the independence
and the qualities of individuals you know as well as their team performance and that it's the quality of the work over the quantitative results that all aspects of open science should be encouraged and of course that the leadership aspects in academic careers and research and science
are fundamental too and it's important to value those. So some interesting ideas there around programs that are doing and of course also in the Dutch National Academy has the strategy evaluation protocol as well to support this and to monitor it.
So that's one example if you like of a program and a policy. Yesterday Clifford Tatham in his presentation if you were lucky enough to follow it showed this image already but I think it's worth reflecting on again because in the answer to this question of which types of academic work matter the most for research careers
clearly the answer in 2009 was research publication and I'm not sure we've progressed too far from there. There's something fundamentally wrong here where we practice and where we preach about open science and open access
and unfortunately those who we want to you know practice that or feel that it is the least important or possibly the most difficult for them to do. So there is no doubt in our minds that this is you know important.
The time is now if not a little late but it's never too late in my world. Just a quick moment on the next one. There are many excellent references and guides on how to start you know how to start this and what to include.
My remote control has gone asleep. And what not to. I'm sorry I think I've lost the slides in my hand but anyway.
There are a large number of indicators also available and the scientific metrics so resources you know huge numbers from basic to very you know complex if you like indicators that are all food for thought.
So what will the registry do for us and where will it fit in to this vast vast landscape.
So of course we must build on the recommendations and the existing outputs. Yes that all of the I mean those few that I showed you there. So you know we need to focus on the integrity of research projects. They should be valued and not just the products.
We must of course decide first on what the goals are and not just what can be measured. Yeah because there's so much of many unknowns in this. We must move beyond the declarations and to practical implementations and pilots. So it's great to see the policies and see the programs.
But this must also start to be documented. And you know we must have the uptake I suppose of this is hampered by the lack of exemplars and the lack of evidence on what works and what you know doesn't work. And this is where we if you like fundamentally start from.
So the registry or the research assessment registry the registry on rewards and incentives should be we want it to be a publicly available searchable and evidence based online platform of the intentions and of the outcomes fundamental the intentions as they started and the outcomes as they progress
and are implemented of ongoing and future policy changes to the research reward and evaluation system. So it is a I give you a sort of a sample view if you like.
We're very much in the nascent stages of this and I'll tell you where we are in the steps and in the implementation and the scoping of it. But just to give an idea because it's always nice to have a picture. This open evidence based approach should of course be very much like a registry of things and it will be if you like encompass stakeholders and pilots of implementations of research
and awards from across the globe as I said in from funders from research performing organizations and also publishers of course are the are the ones that we want to see provide the data and maintain it updated.
And of course it must also be across multiple levels. So the institutional level the national level the domain specific level too. So very broad very all encompassing. The structure if you like around the database is it would be you know a highly structured registry.
This is how we intended of exemplars and to ensure searchable examples so that you can find if you like examples that you're looking for that are ones that are important to you as an organization.
Or even as a stakeholder. So what sort of research and you know and rewards and incentives program runs and how in what scenario in what context and how was that valuable and how was you know in this context rather than that. Is it something that I could look at for implementation in my scenario or in my context.
So we want to ensure of course inclusivity and global. So you see that many of the organizations that are now if you like volunteering and supporting us maybe are more northern hemispheric. And that's just as it happens around some of the funding that we're seeking and things like that.
But nothing to do with the fact that this must be global and I don't think I can say that enough. Inclusivity means also you know multilingualism which we have to if you like approach and take into consideration as we develop this.
Yes. But the successes and we want to use the successes to support. We want the people to be able to support you know the broader uptake and adoption by others. So the goal the core goal is to capture both the intention and any subsequent outcome of each implementation.
So you could imagine that we get you know the intention is to run this program with these expectations. But we also important to capture what worked and what didn't at time phases. You know over the timeline of the of the actual program or the policy and in sufficient detail that we are able to analyze it and share the outcomes.
So who are the stakeholders the key stakeholders here. Well we've sort of broken them into into two primary stakeholders and secondary ones as you can see there.
And we want it's very fundamental the success of this is the commitment by all of them and the engagement and the adoption by the funders and the institutions. It's key to the success of this registry because this is an opportunity. It's a golden opportunity to share the intentions the data the outcomes of
the interventions and what worked and what didn't in a collaborative and open way. And this is not currently available. It's not available. That's why we're doing it. We certainly don't want to be reinventing the field. So how will they be involved. Well we have sort of three steps in the involvement of the stakeholders through a database.
And the intent of course as well for the pre-registration if you like of intent and then the sharing and the reuse. No. So it's a living registry. It's important because as I keep I can't say it enough how providing the
updates on what works what doesn't what has been successful metrics and things allow others to then make an assessment. Is it right or not right for them and to share it and also to you know not duplicate efforts in things that are going.
So very quickly. Finally the last slide. What it is it's a mutual learning and knowledge exchange platform. It's global. It's open. It's community driven. It is not a monitoring platform. It is not an evaluation framework. OK. I can't say that enough. It's it's not
for that. There are other areas around the world for policy monitoring and things like this. This is a mutual knowledge sharing. So the very quickly on the funding and the governance we're currently seeking funding in a short term for grants in short term. But of course the longer term we will be analyzing and we have many people on board who
are well used to the understanding around funding and longer term sustainability and different models will be chosen. And of course the governance. One thing is as we said as I said when I started and I leave it then at that is that it's initially managed by RDA but there are other areas that we need to look into as to how this can be sustainable and structured in a correct way.
How what it is though it is community governed and it will not be it will be a not for profit and adhering to the principles of open infrastructure which all of the founding and driving organizations and subscribe to.
So in the next steps of course we're seeking the funding we're in the scoping phase now at the moment we are working with stakeholders and we're doing consultations with them. The first one will be on the 9th of March which we've invited a group of funders and organizations across the globe to to thing and we will we'll consult at different stages and in different ways with all stakeholders.
Of course advocacy that this is an important thing is fundamental to and the communication and the outreach. Anyone who might be interested can please and in you know contact or get the link to the contact us for more information.
There is a database that you can sign up to and to you know get us let us know what aspect of it you would be interested in and then or send an email to the web. One of the wonderful people will pick it up and with that I will stop because
I think I've run over my time and thank you very much for your kind attention. Thank you very much Hillary for that very interesting presentation. Yeah. First of all also congratulations on the continued growth of the Research Data Alliance if I heard correctly over 11000 members now. So that's grown even from last year's statistics.
Fantastic. We have two or three questions. I wanted to jump in for you all. And I had this question also yesterday when I talk to journalists sometimes they say that people these days they don't read information they swipe information. Basically we have a very short attention span. And so when we have these kind of databases you want to make this available you said publicly available.
Is that something you all are looking into you've got so much interesting work going on. But unfortunately people in general are having shorter and shorter attention spans. So how can we get this data out to people to capture their attentions when we have a I will say loosely a swipe generation.
Yeah absolutely. Yeah David it's very good question I think. And I mean that's part of the fire the rationale behind the scoping and the stakeholder consultation because we can't design this in a correct way.
If we don't involve all and that's not just I would say from the content perspective and what needs to be there and what isn't so that you can do the correct analysis. But you're very true the whole interface with which we provide this will be important. I think I talked about the multilingual aspect as well which is something it's
not an easy thing to implement and it requires resources and that for us. But we must remember that as you say people have different ways of accessing different wishes of accessing and fundamentally we have to encompass all of those. Yeah. It's a challenge. OK. Fantastic. We have I just got the notice we have over 200 participants viewing our discussion right now.
Fantastic. And we do have some questions coming in. Let me read it straight from our chat board here. One question is do you see a risk if we set up open science award registries separately from the traditional science system. Could this lead to a split in the science system.
I might not understand fully the question but I don't I would not think so. I think fundamentally so when I tried to explain the registry there the the concept is that of course those funding and those implementing and those monitoring are our primary stakeholders for this to be a success.
So I wouldn't see it as being a split. And I think actually that's the important thing. If we have a place where all of this information is available and that's it because we're not just talking about different nations but we're talking about different practices in different domains.
We had a wonderful presentation yesterday from Danielle Cooper now on data communities. And the differences of course from one discipline to another from one scientific domain to another and from the Research Data Alliance I would know that myself.
So it's not. I don't think I wouldn't see the risk in that if it's done correctly. OK. Thank you very much. I got one or two more questions and since you did run a little bit over that's no problem but I'll ask you to keep the answers brief so we can get on to our next speaker. But it's all really fantastic and interesting. Next question we have. I still cannot really imagine what kind of initiatives should be registered. Can you give one or two examples please.
OK. So I suppose the example if I gave the example of the Dutch rewards and recognition one because I showed it in the slides. Yes. So they have a you know come out with this policy in this program and of how they wish to implement it. So there will be pieces to that. So let's take one of the programs the things about which I like very much the you know rewarding around leadership.
So we would we would have a series of different pieces of information. What was included in that program. What were the expectations. What were the goals. Who were the if you like recipients of this particular.
You know what were the metrics and the how would you call it the frameworks used to monitor and to assess how successful was it. Was it successful in this area not in that. So yeah I mean I know it's difficult to see we have some examples and when we run some webinars it might be easier.
We'd be very happy to talk about it. OK. Super. Two more quick questions here. Number one. How is the registry different from Dora declaration. Can you highlight the main differences. Well it's not. It's not different to Dora in the sense that in fact that's why I kept I found I underlined that Dora is very very very much involved in this.
Dora exists and Dora does what the actual registry of all the implementations doesn't. So will this be on the Dora Web site. Will it be. I don't know. We haven't decided that yet but it's certainly going to be very very much plugged into that to the Dora activities.
Yeah understood. And the final question it's a long one I'll try to read through here. Thanks for the mention I'm very happy to learn about your project. It seems there might be a complementary dynamic between the openness profile and the RDA registry. What do you think about joining forces to look for potential alignment. Absolutely. As I said we're all about cooperation collaboration and co-creation no duplication of efforts where possible.
So I'd be delighted to. We can take that offline. Very good. That's that's great news. Yeah. And the final thing I wanted to ask you and that is Hillary. We also have our speaker sessions. I wanted to ask will you be available today and if so do you know exactly when.
I will. I will be available for the hour. So from a quarter past 12 central European time till a quarter past 12. So please join me there. I'd be happy. Fantastic. It is our tradition even though we're all watching from around the world in our offices and homes. We give you a digital applause to our presenters. Thank you very much.
Thank you to all those who joined and listened and for the questions. Really fantastic and very very interesting.