What is Open Science?
Open Science is more and more becoming an important topic not only in research but also in university education. To shed light on the various ways how researchers can open up their research, our team at UZH designed the digital and freely available online game “Open Up Your Research”.
The game
Follow Emma on her journey to a PhD when you play the game “Open Up Your Research”, and make decisions at six critical points during her research process. Should Emma take a traditional approach to science, or follow a more open path? The choices are seemingly simple (see Fig. 1 for an impression). The six steps include the following:
- How should Emma find the latest research?
- Should she write a data management plan?
- Should she preregister her study?
- Should she make data and code FAIR?
- Should she publish in an Open Access journal?
- Should she publish data and code?
This game is intended to make students and researchers aware of the Open Science practices that could be applied in one’s own research workflow. At the same time, not all of these practices might be equally suitable for all disciplines. What is more, it is not always easy to decide which parts of the research workflow should be open as there are many other factors at play that influence one’s decision, such as funder requirements… Nevertheless, the game will provide players with an (sometimes simplified) overview of the kind of Open Science practices that exist.
The following image carousel gives impressions from the game «Open Up Your Research», including the decision points.
How to use it in a lecture
The game provides a low-key way to introduce and discuss many aspects of Open Science. At six key moments during her research trajectory, Emma has to make a decision. The pros and cons of each decision can be discussed with the students who thereafter are invited to vote on what choice Emma should make using a classroom response system (CRS). The next steps for Emma then depend on the majority vote from the students. They in turn immediately learn about the consequences of Emma’s decisions. As such, the game is suitable for use with small and also large student groups.
Examples of classroom discussion
- Often students do not know what preregistration is, especially if they are at a beginner’s level. Hence in most cases a quick introduction is necessary, e.g., with the Texas sharpshooter cartoon (see Fig. 2), or, if more time is available, with an overview of clinical trial registration. If the audience is from different or largely experimental disciplines this will frequently lead to a discussion of exploratory versus confirmatory research.
- When asked the question if Emma should publish Open Access, it is important to check if students know what this means and what the options are. Depending on the disciplines these options will vary in popularity among researchers and often a discussion regarding incentives for researchers follows naturally. This may also be a perfect opportunity to introduce students to the peer review system.
Duration of the game
The duration of the game varies depending on the decisions and on how long it takes to get to the decisions. If only brief explanations of the concepts are given and discussion is limited to a minimum the game can be played in about 20 minutes. If more detailed explanations and open discussions are possible it may take up to two times 45 minutes to finish it.
In which discipline is this important?
Open Science is important in all disciplines, however, some of the aspects of the game are targeted towards quantitative disciplines. The critical discussion around these aspects is nevertheless advisable for all disciplines.
References and Resources
The University of Zurich has an Open Science Policy: https://www.openscience.uzh.ch/de/definition/policy.html
Good general overviews of Open Science are the UNESCO recommendations and the LERU roadmap
https://en.unesco.org/science-sustainable-future/open-science/recommendation
https://www.leru.org/publications/open-science-and-its-role-in-universities-a-roadmap-for-cultural-change