Open Science News

Open Science Fair (OSFair) 2025, taking place from September 15–17 at CERN in Geneva, is set to spotlight the transformative power of global, cross-disciplinary partnerships in shaping the future of Open Science. Under the theme “Fusing Forces – Accelerating Open Science through Collaboration”, this year’s event calls on researchers, institutions, policymakers, and advocates to unite in pursuit of a transparent, equitable, and globally connected research ecosystem.

A Global Call for Collective Action

As complex global challenges continue to emerge, OSFair 2025 emphasizes the need for collaborative solutions that transcend geographical and disciplinary boundaries. Through a rich program of talks, panels, and workshops, the conference will explore how shared practices and inclusive cooperation can accelerate discovery and democratize access to knowledge.

Whether you’re an Open Science veteran or just getting started, OSFair 2025 offers a dynamic platform to connect, exchange, and contribute to the advancement of open, inclusive research practices.

Conference Topics & Cross-Cutting Themes

This year’s conference will dive into a wide range of timely and impactful topics:

• Fusing Forces – Accelerating Open Science through Collaboration
• AI in Open Science | Policies for Equity & Inclusion

Thematic Tracks:

• Beyond Compliance: Measuring and maximizing Open Science impact
• Open, but at What Cost?: Research security and ethical risks in openness
• Building the Digital Backbone: Sustaining and scaling Open Science infrastructures
• Rethinking Research Assessment: Towards fairer, more transparent evaluations
• Open Science for All: Training, community-building, and fostering AI literacy

Key Dates to Remember

• Registration now open
  • Early Bird: CHF 500 (until June 30)
  • Regular: CHF 600 (until July 31)
  • OpenAIRE Members: CHF 400 (until July 31)
  • Conference Dinner: CHF 100 (until July 31)
• Call for Contributions (Talks, Panels, Workshops)
  • Deadline: April 30, 2025
  • Notification: May 23, 2025
• Call for Posters
  • Deadline: May 16, 2025
  • Notification: June 6, 2025

Who Should Attend?

OSFair 2025 is geared toward:

• Research communities and infrastructures
• Libraries and repository managers
• Service providers, research administrators
• Learned societies, funders, policymakers
• Citizen science advocates, innovators in scholarly communication

Organized by OpenAIRE and CERN

An emblematic initiative of OpenAIRE, this year’s event is co-organized with and hosted by the CERN Open Science Office. OpenAIRE is a non-profit organization committed to building a sustainable, open scholarly communication infrastructure to support European and global research.

Stay Connected

Stay up to date with announcements, speakers, and opportunities via OSFair’s social media channels on LinkedIn, Bluesky, and Mastodon.

Join us in Geneva this September and help shape the future of Open Science — because when we fuse forces, we move faster, go further, and open knowledge for all.

As DORA (The Declaration on Research Assessment) marks its 12th anniversary, the team is thrilled to unveil a new milestone in the journey towards fairer research practices: A Practical Guide to Implementing Responsible Research Assessment at Research Performing Organizations. This new resource is aimed at helping institutions take actionable steps toward meaningful reform in research evaluation.

To celebrate the launch, DORA invites the global community to join one of three online panel discussions tailored to different time zones:

• Asia-Pacific: Thursday, 15 May 2025, 14:00 AEST
• Africa & Europe: Friday, 16 May 2025, 10:00 BST
• Americas: Friday, 16 May 2025, 14:00 EDT

During these sessions, DORA’s Chairs will introduce the Guide, while guest speakers will explore its relevance and impact across different institutional and regional contexts.

The Guide is a response to a common challenge: while many organizations are eager to reform research assessment, they often lack the time, expertise, or a clear starting point. This practical tool outlines proven steps—such as forming leadership support, establishing working groups, and creating communication plans—based on a decade of experience working with institutions worldwide. It also highlights key moments within the research assessment process where change is most impactful.

To further inspire and guide action, the Guide includes real-world case studies from organizations in Canada, Denmark, and Japan that have successfully adopted Responsible Research Assessment (RRA) approaches.

Understanding that a one-size-fits-all solution is unrealistic, the Guide is designed to be an adaptable and inspirational tool. Through upcoming events and discussions, DORA looks forward to exploring how the Guide can be applied and evolved in diverse environments.

The Guide was co-developed with stakeholders who met in January 2025 in Maryland, USA. It is part of Project TARA, a DORA initiative supported by Arcadia, a charitable foundation dedicated to cultural heritage, nature conservation, and open access to knowledge. Together with tools like Reformscape, Building Blocks for Impact, and Debiasing Committee Composition, the Guide forms a comprehensive suite for institutions looking to drive meaningful change.

DORA invites everyone to be part of this global conversation and help shape the future of responsible research assessment.

Researchers in clinical medicine and allied fields are invited to explore a new way of publishing and peer review through a dedicated session introducing the F1000Research platform. This event will present the distinctive features of F1000’s open publishing model and post-publication open peer review, offering practical guidance for researchers interested in engaging with this transparent and collaborative approach to scholarly communication.

The session will feature a concise 15-minute presentation by George Cooper, Senior Associate Publisher at F1000. With over a decade of experience in academic publishing across health sciences and global development, George will explain how F1000’s model differs from traditional journals—highlighting benefits such as speed, transparency, and author control. He will also provide tips for clinical researchers on how to ensure their submissions meet the platform’s standards and navigate the peer review and revision process effectively.

Adding a valuable practitioner’s perspective, the session will include insights from Dr. Yogendra Nayak, Professor of Pharmacology at the Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, part of the Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), India. Dr. Nayak will share his experiences publishing with F1000Research, from initial submission through to final acceptance. He will also discuss how these positive experiences influenced MAHE’s decision to launch a curated Gateway on F1000Research, showcasing research from affiliated authors.

The event will conclude with a Q&A and open discussion, offering attendees the chance to ask questions and share thoughts on how open publishing could fit into their research workflows.

This session promises to be an insightful introduction for clinical researchers seeking a more open, ethical, and inclusive approach to publishing their work.

As the Open Science movement gains momentum, the need for robust, community-driven, and sustainable infrastructures becomes increasingly critical. To address this challenge, the Global Sustainability Coalition for Open Science Services (SCOSS), in collaboration with LIBER, is hosting an insightful webinar that will spotlight key initiatives shaping the future of scholarly communication.

The webinar will introduce the LIBER community to SCOSS’s mission of supporting non-commercial, scholar-led services that form the backbone of Open Science. With a focus on sustainability, transparency, and equity, participants will explore how these infrastructures fill vital gaps in the global research landscape—and how institutions and individuals can contribute to their continued growth and impact.

Attendees will hear directly from leaders behind some of SCOSS’s most influential endorsed infrastructures:

• Olaf Siegert (ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics) will discuss discipline-specific services such as EconStor, Open Library Economics, and the ZBW Journal Data Archive, all supporting Open Access and data management in economics.
• Rosalie Lack (SCOSS Coordinator) will provide an overview of SCOSS’s strategy and its role in strengthening the Open Science ecosystem worldwide.
• Susan Murray (Executive Director, African Journals OnLine) will share how AJOL has grown into a full-text platform for African peer-reviewed journals, providing vital visibility and access to local research.
• Raphaël Tournoy (Head of Episciences) will highlight the overlay journal model and how Episciences promotes transparent and reproducible scientific publishing.
• Iratxe Puebla (Director, Make Data Count) will speak on advancing data usage metrics and data evaluation practices through open infrastructure.
• Jean-Sébastien Caux (Founder, SciPost) will discuss his efforts to create an alternative publishing model rooted in openness, with SciPost offering genuine open access solutions for scientists by scientists.

This event will not only showcase success stories but also offer practical insights on how to support and engage with sustainable scholarly infrastructures. It’s free to attend, and the session will be recorded for broader access.

Register now to join this important conversation and be part of building a more inclusive, sustainable, and innovative future for Open Science.

Note: By attending any LIBER event, participants agree to adhere to the LIBER Code of Conduct.

On April 16, 2025, from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM BST, the University of Turku will host a forward-looking webinar titled “Keyword Impact Assessment Through Altmetric Indicators,” featuring guest speaker Ashraf Maleki. This session will introduce a novel method of analyzing research impact by shifting the focus from articles and journals to the keywords that drive attention across scientific publications.

Rather than evaluating impact solely through traditional citation counts or journal metrics, this webinar delves into altmetric indicators – such as media mentions, social media shares, and policy citations—at the keyword level. By examining how specific terms and topics perform across these indicators, participants will gain insights into:

• How citation and altmetric trends differ across scientific themes
• Which research topics attract the most attention in academic and public spheres
• How knowledge structures form through keyword co-occurrence networks weighted by altmetric data

The University of Turku team will present a specialized program that builds overlay maps of scientific domains, visualizing how keywords interact and influence one another based on their altmetric weight. These maps reveal patterns of dissemination and interest across the research landscape.

Attendees will walk through the methodology, explore key findings, and discover how visualization tools can enhance their understanding of research impact beyond conventional metrics. This session is especially valuable for researchers, librarians, and science communication professionals looking to expand their impact assessment toolbox.

Don’t miss this chance to explore how keyword-level analysis is reshaping how we understand the influence of research in the digital age.

On April 10, 2025, the PathOS training series continues with a timely and insightful webinar titled “Cost Benefit Analysis Framework for Open Science”, offering researchers, policymakers, and stakeholders a closer look at how we can evaluate the true value of Open Science.

Led by Jessica Catalano from CSIL, this session will introduce participants to the Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) framework as a tool to quantify the impacts of Open Science practices. The webinar will delve into how the CBA approach compares different scenarios — with and without Open Science implementation — to assess both the benefits and costs involved.

Participants can expect a detailed overview of the core components of the CBA framework, along with real-world applications that highlight its relevance in current Open Science initiatives. The session also aims to shed light on the practical challenges of conducting comprehensive CBAs and their significance in shaping evidence-based policies for the future.

The event will conclude with a forward-looking discussion on policy implications and potential directions for future research, followed by a live Q&A where attendees can engage directly with the speaker.

This session promises to be a valuable opportunity for anyone interested in understanding how we can effectively measure the societal and scientific returns of Open Science.

Please note: The session will be recorded, and by registering, participants agree to the recording being shared via the organiser’s official channels.

April 10, 2025 – 12:00 PM (Online Session)

On April 10, 2025, the global Open Science community is invited to an engaging and insightful session featuring Bénédicte Kuntziger, Support, Trainer, and Community Engagement Lead at HAL, the French national open archive. The event will offer a unique perspective on how HAL fits within the global Open Science movement, with a special focus on its relevance and opportunities for African researchers and institutions.

Bénédicte Kuntziger will provide an in-depth overview of HAL’s multifunctional platform, highlighting how it serves researchers, research communities, and institutions through robust services and functionalities. Participants will learn about the key drivers behind HAL’s growth, the user-friendly pathways to access its rich content, and how it actively contributes to advancing Open Science values across linguistic and geographic boundaries.

A notable focus of the session will be on HAL’s role in bridging anglophone and francophone research communities, enhancing knowledge sharing and collaboration between Europe and Africa. Attendees will also explore HAL’s interoperability, enabling seamless integration with other repository systems, and its collections most relevant to African scholars.

This webinar is a valuable opportunity for anyone interested in inclusive, multilingual, and sustainable Open Science infrastructure, especially as it relates to strengthening African research ecosystems.

🔗 Click here to register!