Beyond Access:

What Does Open Science Mean to You?

An important movement is underway and we don’t have a good name for it. Put another way: a number of trends are converging that haven’t understood or decided on their common threads and themes.

1. The push for open access in academic research is in full bloom, and the companion effort to free the code and data associated with the research is riding the wave.
2. An explosion of citizen science projects are experimenting with entirely new ways to engage non-professionals in both the collection and processing of scientific data.
3. The maker movement — the influx of digital fabrication tools, cheap and modular PCBs and sensors, as well as a collaborative design ethos — are giving birth to a whole swath of new DIY science tools. Open source hardware is a major component.

There is a larger tent that all of these trends fall under, but it hasn’t been well articulated. Open Science might be it. Or maybe there’s a better term.

Everyone seems to have a slightly different — and usually very compelling — idea about what Open Science means to them.

That’s what this essay series is about. If you have a perspective that you’d like to share, we’d like to hear it. Please “respond” to this question below and we’ll post a link to your response.