Systematically Mapping Open Science Communities across Disciplines

Welcome to the FORRT Open Science Communities Mapping Initiative, a global effort to systematically identify, map, and connect Open Science (OS) organizations across disciplines and regions.

Our goal is to build an interactive, crowdsourced, and living map of grassroots Open Science networks, providing researchers, educators, and policy-makers with a detailed landscape of the resources, opportunities, collaborations, and initiatives within these communities.

This initiative builds upon the successful mapping of Open Science initiatives in the field of Psychology Skubera et al., 2024 (International Initiatives to Enhance Awareness and Uptake of Open Research in Psychology: A Systematic Narrative Review), and aims to extend this work across multiple disciplines. With the support of key partners, this project will foster collaboration, transparency, and innovation in scientific research globally.

Summary of the Initiative

The Mapping Open Science Communities Initiative aims to systematically catalog and map Open Science (OS) organizations worldwide. By identifying grassroots networks, institutional initiatives, training resources, data repositories, and more, we hope to provide a comprehensive and accessible resource for the global research community.

This project is guided by FORRT’s core mission of promoting research transparency, inclusivity, and rigorous scientific practices. Through an interactive map, researchers, educators, and the public will be able to explore resources sorted by research discipline, geographic region, language, or specific Open Science principles. The map is designed not just to showcase existing initiatives but also to encourage cross-disciplinary collaboration and increase the visibility of often under-represented regions and languages in the global OS movement.

Motivation

Why is this Important?

Despite the growing push for open and transparent science, there remains a fragmentation of efforts across disciplines, regions, and languages. Many OS initiatives operate in silos, which limits their impact and the ability to share resources, tools, and best practices. This initiative aims to reduce these barriers by creating a centralized, openly accessible map that makes it easy for individuals and organizations to find and connect with relevant Open Science communities.

Who Does It Benefit?

This initiative benefits a wide range of stakeholders:

Researchers: Gain access to networks, tools, and resources that support open science practices, increasing the reproducibility and rigor of their research.
Early-Career Researchers (ECRs): ECRs often play a critical role in driving OS movements and will benefit from increased visibility, training, and collaboration opportunities.
Institutions: Universities, research centers, and policy-making bodies will have a clearer understanding of existing efforts in their fields, helping them make informed decisions and potentially forming partnerships.
Under-represented regions and languages: The initiative prioritizes inclusivity, aiming to map resources from all over the world, particularly in regions or languages that are often underrepresented in mainstream scientific discussions.

How Does It Promote Collaboration?

By creating a “network of OS communities”, the map will enable organizations that are working toward similar goals to collaborate rather than duplicate efforts. The map will help align goals across disciplines and geographies, increase efficiency, and ensure that solutions to open science challenges are shared and adapted across diverse research fields. The visualization of this ecosystem will encourage the development of interdisciplinary projects, increasing the overall impact of Open Science initiatives.

Benefits

Addressing Fragmentation: Many Open Science efforts are siloed, limiting their potential for broader collaboration and impact.
Promoting Inclusivity: Many regions and languages are underrepresented in the global OS conversation. This initiative seeks to highlight OS organizations beyond the UK, US, and Europe, embracing the global scientific community.
Supporting Early-Career Researchers: Grassroots networks often rely heavily on early-career researchers. This initiative will ensure they are supported with resources, opportunities, and recognition.
Bottom-up Culture Change: Like COSGN, we believe that grassroots efforts are essential to complement top-down policy changes. Bottom-up networks can drive culture change more organically within research communities by offering peer-led training, resource-sharing, and collaboration.

Driving Culture Change and Innovation

The Mapping Open Science Communities Initiative not only promotes collaboration and transparency but also serves as a powerful tool for cultural and systemic change. Grassroots networks have been shown to:

Accelerate Discovery: Open science improves transparency, sharing, and collaboration, which reduces friction in the knowledge-creation process. This will increase the pace of scientific discovery across disciplines.
Enhance Training and Skills Development: The map will serve as a resource hub, particularly for early-career researchers and students, to learn best practices in open science and find collaborators across the world.
Improve Reproducibility and Rigor: By increasing access to open data, tools, and methodological resources, the initiative will contribute to the ongoing efforts to improve research rigor and reproducibility globally.

Sustainability and Long-Term Vision

The success of this initiative is built on community ownership. We aim to make the mapping project self-sustaining by encouraging continual contributions from researchers and organizations worldwide. Each contributor will be credited for their work through the CRediT taxonomy, ensuring recognition and fostering a culture of open collaboration.

In the long term, we envision the map becoming a widely adopted tool across institutions, universities, and research centers, guiding researchers and policy-makers toward more inclusive and transparent practices. The project also opens the door for additional academic outputs, including new datasets, manuscripts, and policy recommendations.

Detailed Methodology

Our methodology is based on a three-stage systematic narrative review, which we first implemented successfully in psychology and now plan to extend across other disciplines. The following is the approach we intend to replicate:

Stage 1: Web Search

Objective: To identify Open Science initiatives that may not appear in formal publications, including informal networks, university initiatives, and online platforms (e.g., OSF, preprint servers, social media).
Tools: Use broad web searches, explore repositories like OSF and Zenodo, and engage with relevant forums or platforms where OS communities may gather.

Stage 2: Literature Search

Objective: To complement the web search with a more formal literature review using academic databases. This will help capture established initiatives and best practices that have been documented in scholarly articles.
Tools: Databases like Web of Science, Scopus, and PsyArXiv. Use discipline-specific databases to tailor searches to other fields (e.g., PubMed for biology).
Keywords: Open Science, open research, reproducibility, transparency, and more, tailored to each field.

Stage 3: Hand Search

Objective: To ensure completeness by manually reviewing grey literature, newsletters, and other materials that might not be indexed in databases but are essential to Open Science initiatives.
Outcome: The initiatives will be categorized into procedural, structural, or community-based changes, ensuring a thorough mapping of various approaches.

Key Partners and Organizations

This initiative is supported by a consortium of organizations dedicated to advancing Open Science. Key collaborators include:

Metadocencia: An organization that specializes in training and community building for Open Science in Latin America. Their platform and interactive map on mapping communities are key assets for this initiative.

Access 2 Perspectives (A2P): A consulting and training organization that promotes inclusive, multilingual, and equitable research practices. Their resources on Open Science in underserved regions play a critical role in expanding the geographic reach of this initiative.

Datasets Considered for Integration:

FORRT’s Curated Resources: Over 1,000 resources on Open Science, already categorized for accessibility.
Metadocencia’s Mapped Communities: Interactive maps focused on Latin America, which will be integrated into the global map.
Access2Perspectives Network of OS Communities: Kumo Network.
COSGN Database: A database of over 120 grassroots networks promoting open scholarship worldwide.

Join the Movement

We invite you to explore the map and contribute your own resources to this growing community. Together, we can create a more transparent, inclusive, and collaborative future for scientific research.

Explore the Map: [Interactive Map Link]

Submit Your Resources: [Google Form Link]