US Academies examine open science and reproducibility
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US Academies examine open science and reproducibility www.nationalacademies.org
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he importance of research within modern society is undeniable. Ongoing scientific research enables the development of new technologies that can improve health and quality of life, provide new ways to harness and sustain the Earth’s natural resources, produce clean and renewable energy, bolster the economy, and yield a more complete understanding of the natural world. Materials research in particular has provided wide-reaching benefits to society and will continue to play a key role in enabling future advancements. Many technologies have reached a point where further advancements require the development of new materials, or materials systems, that can be manipulated to have the required properties, characteristics, and/or performance to suit specific applications. Despite the important role that
scientific research plays in society, concerns about integrity, transparency, and reproducibility have recently become a discussion point both within the scientific community and among policymakers. To address these concerns, the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (Academies) has undertaken three studies—one on integrity in research, one on open science, and one on reproducibility and replicability. Scientific integrity has always been important to scientists, but the changing landscape, both in science and policy, has produced a need and desire to improve the approaches used to promote and support integrity in research. The first of the three Academies studies, Fostering Integrity in Research (reported in the April 2018 issue of MRS Bulletin), was completed in April 2017. The report provides a review of current integrity-related issues and best practices as well as recommendations to improve integrity within the scientific enterprise. The report charges the science community with better aligning the reality of the research environment with its ideals. The second Academies study is looking at the challenges and benefits of open science, which is defined as free public access to the results of publicly funded scientific research. Begun in
July 2017 and ex-pected to take 18 months to complete, Toward an Open Science Enterprise will focus on providing solutions that can be employed to shift publicly funded scientific research results from limited access into open science. The Academies website for the study calls for the products of public research to be “findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR), with limited exceptions for privacy, proprietary business claims, and national security.” Conducted by an ad hoc committee under the Board on Research Data and Information, the study will culminate in a consensus report that will detail the findings and recommendations of the committee. The focus of this open science study is to identify a strategy to make open science the default for all publicly funded research. The seven tasks specified within the study range from determining to what extent open science is
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