Nagoya University Library
Open Science/Open Access Support

Overview

What is Open Science?

Open Science is a global movement toward making research activities freely available to society. It began with the free online access to academic articles on the Internet (Open Access). And now, not only research results but also data collected during the research process are expected to be made public as well as papers. With expansion of Open Science, many researchers, as well as non-research institute and the general public, can access and utilize research data. There have also been cases where citizens take part in research activities. Such developments lead to further advancements in science.

The goals of Open Science also include making research activities more transparent and contributing to society. By Making the data and results of the research process available for all, research becomes more helpful for society. Furthermore, enabling open access to research data is expected to yield numerous advantages. For example, it make data be utilized for a longer period of time and for multiple purpose. In addition, it ensures research replication and prevents misconduct in research activities.

What is Open Access?

Open Access refers to publishing journal articles online for free, making them available not just to researchers, but for all to use.

In the past, subscriptions for scientific journals were acquired largely by institutions such as university libraries, and in many cases were only available to researchers. Furthermore, obtaining articles at libraries has become increasingly difficult due to rising subscription fees. This is part of the reason behind the spread of Open Access.

Open Access makes articles available to a greater number of people. As a result, research findings can make a larger contribution to society and can be utilized for the advancement of scientific research. There are also benefits for the researchers themselves. For example, their research will be more cited by others.
Some funding agencies recommend using Open Access when publishing research results, and some countries mandate it.

The FAIR Data Principles

The FAIR Data Principles are the standard when publishing and sharing research data.

"FAIR" stands for "Findable", "Accessible", "Interoperable", and "Reusable", and each category can be broken down into individual requirements that must be met when publishing data.