Open Science as a Value-Driven, Cyberinfrastructure Supported Ethos

• In Event: Interrupting Open Science: Use, Reuse, and Misuse of Research Data and Code

Abstract

Despite significant attention from funders, institutions, and researchers, open science remains enigmatic to many. Individual open behaviors or specific issues are examined by researchers but a comprehensive approach to the expansive phenomenon is rarely considered. In this article I suggest that the many faces of open science are united by two shared features: deontological justification and instantiation through cyberinfrastructure. Through a review of advocacy pieces and empirical literature spanning the breadth of open science from the reproducibility “crisis” in psychology to practices like open access publishing, open source software development, and open data sharing, I demonstrate that advocates’ language expresses their view that open science should be achieved through cyberinfrastructure because it supports an ethos founded in Mertonian scientific norms. I then analyze the literature to show how adopting a view of open science as such a cyberinfrastructure-supported ethos—rather than a collection of diverse behaviors—can advance research on the topic, improving our understanding and execution of the phenomenon. Ultimately, I argue, such a comprehensive view of open science invites a reformed approach to examining its impact and implementation.

Author

• Johanna Cohoon, UT Austin School of Information