Paper by Arthur Sarazin: “While smart cities are recently providing open data, how to organise the collective creation of data, knowledge and related products and services produced from this collective resource, still remains to be thought. This paper aims at gathering the literature review on open data ecosystems to tackle the following research question: what models can be imagined to stimulate the collective co-creation of services between smart cities’ stakeholders acting as providers and users of open data? Such issue is currently at stake in many municipalities such as Lisbon which decided to position itself as a platform (O’Reilly, 2010) in the local digital ecosystem. With the implementation of its City Operation Center (COI), Lisbon’s municipality provides an Information Infrastructure (Bowker et al., 2009) to many different types of actors such as telecom companies, municipalities, energy utilities or transport companies. Through this infrastructure, Lisbon encourages such actors to gather, integrate and release heterogeneous datasets and tries to orchestrate synergies among them so data-driven solution to urban problems can emerge (Carvalho and Vale, 2018). The remaining question being: what models for the municipalities such as Lisbon to lean on so as to drive this cutting-edge type of service innovation?…(More)”.
The Oligopoly’s Shift to Open Access. How the Big Five Academic Publishers Profit from Article Processing Charges
Paper by Leigh-Ann Butler et al: “This study aims to estimate the total amount of article processing charges (APCs) paid to publish open access (OA) in journals controlled by the five large commercial publishers Elsevier, Sage, Springer-Nature, Taylor & Francis and Wiley between 2015 and 2018. Using publication data from WoS, OA status from Unpaywall and annual APC prices from open datasets and historical fees retrieved via the Internet Archive Wayback Machine, we estimate that globally authors paid $1.06 billion in publication fees to these publishers from 2015–2018. Revenue from gold OA amounted to $612.5 million, while $448.3 million was obtained for publishing OA in hybrid journals. Among the five publishers, Springer-Nature made the most revenue from OA ($589.7 million), followed by Elsevier ($221.4 million), Wiley ($114.3 million), Taylor & Francis ($76.8 million) and Sage ($31.6 million). With Elsevier and Wiley making most of APC revenue from hybrid fees and others focusing on gold, different OA strategies could be observed between publishers…(More)”.
The State of Open Data 2023
Report by Springer Nature, Digital Science and Figshare: “The 2023 survey showed that the key motivations for researchers to share their data remain very similar to previous years, with full citation of research papers or a data citation ranking highly. 89% of respondents also said they make their data available publicly, however almost three quarters of respondents had never received support with planning, managing or sharing research data.
One size does not fit all: Variations in responses from different areas of expertise and geographies highlight a need for a more nuanced approach to research data management support globally. For example, 64% of respondents supported the idea of a national mandate for making research data openly available, with Indian and German respondents more likely to support this idea (both 71%).
Credit is an ongoing issue: For eight years running, our survey has revealed a recurring concern among researchers: the perception that they don’t receive sufficient recognition for openly sharing their data. 60% of respondents said they receive too little credit for sharing their data.
AI awareness hasn’t translated to action: For the first time, this year we asked survey respondents to indicate if they were using ChatGPT or similar AI tools for data collection, data processing and metadata collection. The most common response to all three questions was ‘I’m aware of these tools but haven’t considered it.’..(More)”.
Open-access reformers launch next bold publishing plan
Article by Layal Liverpool: “The group behind the radical open-access initiative Plan S has announced its next big plan to shake up research publishing — and this one could be bolder than the first. It wants all versions of an article and its associated peer-review reports to be published openly from the outset, without authors paying any fees, and for authors, rather than publishers, to decide when and where to first publish their work.
The group of influential funding agencies, called cOAlition S, has over the past five years already caused upheaval in the scholarly publishing world by pressuring more journals to allow immediate open-access publishing. Its new proposal, prepared by a working group of publishing specialists and released on 31 October, puts forward an even broader transformation in the dissemination of research.
It outlines a future “community-based” and “scholar-led” open-research communication system (see go.nature.com/45zyjh) in which publishers are no longer gatekeepers that reject submitted work or determine first publication dates. Instead, authors would decide when and where to publish the initial accounts of their findings, both before and after peer review. Publishers would become service providers, paid to conduct processes such as copy-editing, typesetting and handling manuscript submissions…(More)”.
Urban Development and the State of Open Data
Chapter by Stefaan G. Verhulst and Sampriti Saxena: “Nearly 4.4 billion people, or about 55% of the world’s population, lived in cities in 2018. By 2045, this number is anticipated to grow to 6 billion. Such level of growth requires innovative and targeted urban solutions. By more effectively leveraging open data, cities can meet the needs of an ever-growing population in an effective and sustainable manner. This paper updates the previous contribution by Jean-Noé Landry, titled “Open Data and Urban Development” in the 2019 edition of The State of Open Data. It also aims to contribute to a further deepening of the Third Wave of Open Data, which highlights the significance of open data at the subnational level as a more direct and immediate response to the on-the-ground needs of citizens. It considers recent developments in how the use of, and approach to, open data has evolved within an urban development context. It seeks to discuss emerging applications of open data in cities, recent developments in open data infrastructure, governance and policies related to open data, and the future outlook of the role of open data in urbanization…(More)”.
Open: A Pan-ideological Panacea, a Free Floating Signifier
Paper by Andrea Liu: “Open” is a word that originated from FOSS (Free and Open Software movement) to mean a Commons-based, non-proprietary form of computer software development (Linux, Apache) based on a decentralized, poly-hierarchical, distributed labor model. But the word “open” has now acquired an unnerving over-elasticity, a word that means so many things that at times it appears meaningless. This essay is a rhetorical analysis (if not a deconstruction) of how the term “open” functions in digital culture, the promiscuity (if not gratuitousness) with which the term “open” is utilized in the wider society, and the sometimes blatantly contradictory ideologies a indiscriminately lumped together under this word…(More)”
Data Sandboxes: Managing the Open Data Spectrum
Primer by Uma Kalkar, Sampriti Saxena, and Stefaan Verhulst: “Opening up data offers opportunities to enhance governance, elevate public and private services, empower individuals, and bolster public well-being. However, achieving the delicate balance between open data access and the responsible use of sensitive and valuable information presents complex challenges. Data sandboxes are an emerging approach to balancing these needs.
In this white paper, The GovLab seeks to answer the following questions surrounding data sandboxes: What are data sandboxes? How can data sandboxes empower decision-makers to unlock the potential of open data while maintaining the necessary safeguards for data privacy and security? Can data sandboxes help decision-makers overcome barriers to data access and promote purposeful, informed data (re-)use?
After evaluating a series of case studies, we identified the following key findings:
- Data sandboxes present six unique characteristics that make them a strong tool for facilitating open data and data re-use. These six characteristics are: controlled, secure, multi-sectoral and collaborative, high computing environments, temporal in nature, adaptable, and scalable.
- Data sandboxes can be used for: pre-engagement assessment, data mesh enablement, rapid prototyping, familiarization, quality and privacy assurance, experimentation and ideation, white labeling and minimization, and maturing data insights.
- There are many benefits to implementing data sandboxes. We found ten value propositions, such as: decreasing risk in accessing more sensitive data; enhancing data capacity; and fostering greater experimentation and innovation, to name a few.
- When looking to implement a data sandbox, decision-makers should consider how they will attract and obtain high-quality, relevant data, keep the data fresh for accurate re-use, manage risks of data (re-)use, and translate and scale up sandbox solutions in real markets.
- Advances in the use of the Internet of Things and Privacy Enhancing Technologies could help improve the creation, preparation, analysis, and security of data in a data sandbox. The development of these technologies, in parallel with European legislative measures such as the Digital Markets Act, the Data Act and the Data Governance Act, can improve the way data is unlocked in a data sandbox, improving trust and encouraging data (re-)use initiatives…(More)” (FULL PRIMER)”
On the culture of open access: the Sci-hub paradox
Paper by Abdelghani Maddi and David Sapinho: “Shadow libraries, also known as ”pirate libraries”, are online collections of copyrighted publications that have been made available for free without the permission of the copyright holders. They have gradually become key players of scientific knowledge dissemination, despite their illegality in most countries of the world. Many publishers and scientist-editors decry such libraries for their copyright infringement and loss of publication usage information, while some scholars and institutions support them, sometimes in a roundabout way, for their role in reducing inequalities of access to knowledge, particularly in low-income countries. Although there is a wealth of literature on shadow libraries, none of this have focused on its potential role in knowledge dissemination, through the open access movement. Here we analyze how shadow libraries can affect researchers’ citation practices, highlighting some counter-intuitive findings about their impact on the Open Access Citation Advantage (OACA). Based on a large randomized sample, this study first shows that OA publications, including those in fully OA journals, receive more citations than their subscription-based counterparts do. However, the OACA has slightly decreased over the seven last years. The introduction of a distinction between those accessible or not via the Scihub platform among subscription-based suggest that the generalization of its use cancels the positive effect of OA publishing. The results show that publications in fully OA journals are victims of the success of Sci-hub. Thus, paradoxically, although Sci-hub may seem to facilitate access to scientific knowledge, it negatively affects the OA movement as a whole, by reducing the comparative advantage of OA publications in terms of visibility for researchers. The democratization of the use of Sci-hub may therefore lead to a vicious cycle, hindering efforts to develop full OA strategies without proposing a credible and sustainable alternative model for the dissemination of scientific knowledge…(More)”.
Open Science and Data Protection: Engaging Scientific and Legal Contexts
Editorial Paper of Special Issue edited by Ludovica Paseri: “This paper analyses the relationship between open science policies and data protection. In order to tackle the research data paradox of the contemporary science, i.e., the tension between the pursuit of data-driven scientific research and the crisis of repeatability or reproducibility of science, a theoretical perspective suggests a potential convergence between open science and data protection. Both fields regard governance mechanisms that shall take into account the plurality of interests at stake. The aim is to shed light on the processing of personal data for scientific research purposes in the context of open science. The investigation supports a threefold need: that of broadening the legal debate; of expanding the territorial scope of the analysis, in addition to the extra-territoriality effects of the European Union’s law; and an interdisciplinary discussion. Based on these needs, four perspectives are then identified, that encompass the challenges related to data processing in the context of open science: (i) the contextual and epistemological perspectives; (ii) the legal coordination perspectives; (iii) the governance perspectives; and (iv) the technical perspectives…(More)”.
Surveys Provide Insight Into Three Factors That Encourage Open Data and Science
Article by Joshua Borycz, Alison Specht and Kevin Crowston: “Open Science is a game changer for researchers and the research community. The UNESCO Open Science recommendations in 2021 suggest that the practice of Open Science is a win-win for researchers as they gain from others’ work while making contributions, which in turn benefits the community, as transparency of conclusions and hence confidence in new knowledge improves.
Over a 10-year period Carol Tenopir of DataONE and her team conducted a global survey of scientists, managers and government workers involved in broad environmental science activities about their willingness to share data and their opinion of the resources available to do so (Tenopir et al., 2011, 2015, 2018, 2020). Comparing the responses over that time shows a general increase in the willingness to share data (and thus engage in open science).
A higher willingness to share data corresponded with a decrease in satisfaction with data sharing resources across nations.
The most surprising result was that a higher willingness to share data corresponded with a decrease in satisfaction with data sharing resources across nations (e.g., skills, tools, training) (Fig.1). That is, researchers who did not want to share data were satisfied with the available resources, and those that did want to share data were dissatisfied. Researchers appear to only discover that the tools are insufficient when they begin the hard work of engaging in open science practices. This indicates that a cultural shift in the attitudes of researchers needs to precede the development of support and tools for data management…(More)”.
