Seminar | Open science in Lithuania: current situation and next steps

On 20 December at 11:00 a seminar "Open science in Lithuania: current situation and next steps" took place at KTU SHMMF. It presented the results of Dr Monika Mačiulienė's postdoctoral fellowship "Atvirojo mokslo taikymai žinių bendrakūrai", carried out at Kaunas University of Technology (academic supervisor Dr Eglė Butkevičienė), and recommendations on embedding open science principles in the national science and innovation ecosystem.

Open science is one of the European Commission's policy priorities and forms the basis of the new research and innovation funding programme Horizon Europe. Nevertheless, in Lithuania the issues and application of open science are discussed to a limited extent: there is a lack both of initiative from scientists themselves and of attention from state institutions to embedding openness principles in the strategic documents that regulate scientific activities. This seminar presented an empirical study of the implementation of open science in Lithuania and recommendations responding to the insights gained during the study.

During the seminar the following specific actions were discussed together with the participants.  It is proposed to take specific actions in these areas:

To popularise open science principles, it is necessary to change the incentive systems for scientists. The norms that currently exist at national level and at the level of different research institutions pose challenges to open science practice. Both academic and external stakeholders must see the benefit of this participation before starting to carry out meaningful open science activities. At present there are few such incentives, the activities require compromises (e.g. they are carried out at the expense of free time) and pose a risk to careers, especially for junior scientists, for whom the assessment of publications determines employment opportunities. Organisations should encourage behaviour based on open science principles, monitor research staff and reward them. In this context, national institutions that fund science and innovation research (e.g. the Research Council of Lithuania) have exceptional opportunities to implement change. It is precisely these organisations that have the necessary powers and levers of influence. 

It is recommended that open science be included in definitions and assessments of quality at national and EU levels. Closely related to the question of incentives are the definitions of research quality and competence, which form the basis of performance assessment and career criteria at institutional and national levels. The analysis carried out shows that a narrowly defined concept of research quality, linked to the quantitative assessment of publications, is a major obstacle to the wider application of open science principles. The existing concept of quality and the way research is assessed create the assumption that open science initiatives take away time that could be devoted to preparing the required scientific output.

The awareness of the scientific community needs to be raised and capacities to address challenges related to open science need to be developed. Although changes to the incentive system are necessary, they are not enough for open science principles to be applied widely. This is also hindered by the lack, among organisations participating in the science and innovation ecosystem, of the capacities needed to carry out open science activities. For open science to become the de facto way of conducting research, scientists need specific skills and broader interdisciplinary capacities. The report "Digital skills for FAIR and Open Science" prepared by the European Commission proposes paying attention to four areas that require new skills and knowledge: 1) open access publishing; 2) the preparation, management, analysis, reuse and dissemination of research data; 3) research integrity, ethics and legal aspects; 4) skills in carrying out citizen science projects and managing public engagement. It is recommended that training in these open science skills be included in the curricula of students at all study cycles, starting from the bachelor's cycle. The need for training is also clear for academic staff, who must be given access to innovative digital training material and courses.

To ensure consistent activity, regular assessments need to be carried out at both national and institutional levels, which could be relied on when taking decisions on further strategic decisions and governance. In this process it is important to find a balance between assessments that promote the efficiency of the ecosystem but do not deter participants from taking part in the activity.

The creation of new infrastructures and incentives can help to promote open science. However, for them to be truly effective, institutions must also seek to change the culture on which scientific practice and knowledge creation are based. Cultural change is a slow process, but it can be accelerated first of all by establishing standards of research integrity and ethics. Cultural change is also influenced by training and awareness campaigns, the preparation of institutional open science guidelines that reflect the needs of different stakeholders, and the sharing of examples of good practice.