Definitions of "openness"

[Joseph Esposito <espositoj@gmail.com>]

Picked this up on Twitter.  Here is the link and abstract:

http://microblogging.infodocs.eu/?p=946

Hans Dillaerts 9 09 42 08428 on 19 aout 2011
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Tags: open access ( 312 ), open access definition, openness ( 4 )

On the Lack of Consensus over the Meaning of Openness: An
Empirical Study :

"This study set out to explore the views and motivations of those
involved in a number of recent and current advocacy efforts (such
as open science, computational provenance, and reproducible
research) aimed at making science and scientific artifacts
accessible to a wider audience. Using a exploratory approach, the
study tested whether a consensus exists among advocates of these
initiatives about the key concepts, exploring the meanings that
scientists attach to the various mechanisms for sharing their
work, and the social context in which this takes place. The study
used a purposive sampling strategy to target scientists who have
been active participants in these advocacy efforts, and an
open-ended questionnaire to collect detailed opinions on the
topics of reproducibility, credibility, scooping, data sharing,
results sharing, and the effectiveness of the peer review
process. We found evidence of a lack of agreement on the meaning
of key terminology, and a lack of consensus on some of the
broader goals of these advocacy efforts. These results can be
explained through a closer examination of the divergent goals and
approaches adopted by different advocacy efforts. We suggest that
the scientific community could benefit from a broader discussion
of what it means to make scientific research more accessible and
how this might best be achieved."

URL : http://goo.gl/pEvoH
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0023420

Joe Esposito