OPENING GATES TO OPEN SCIENCE: IMPACT OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES IN FOSTERING OPEN SCIENCE PRINCIPLES IN RESEARCH
Abstract
This comprehensive systematic review investigates the instrumental impact of digital technologies on advancing the foundational principles of Open Science. The primary objective is to conduct a thorough examination of the intricate impacts of technology on enhancing accessibility, transparency, and collaboration within the scientific community. Specifically, it provides a comprehensive overview of the symbiotic relationship between digital technologies and Open Science principles. Drawing upon a diverse array of literature, including studies, articles, and reports from various disciplines, this review explores key themes integral to the paradigm shift toward Open Science. Central to the analysis are the democratization of knowledge facilitated by open access repositories, the transformative capabilities inherent in data-sharing platforms and the collaborative opportunities presented by digital tools in the dissemination of research. This review also explores the challenges and ethical considerations arising from the integration of digital technologies into the scientific process. Through the synthesis of current research, this review aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of how digital technologies have actively contributed to the evolution of Open Science. This elucidates crucial insights for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners eager to harness the complete potential of technology to cultivate a more open and collaborative scientific landscape. By delving into the nuanced interplay between digital tools and Open Science principles, this review offers a valuable resource that not only identifies current trends but also shapes future directions in the dynamic intersection of technology and scientific inquiry. Results suggest that open science practices require interdisciplinary planning and that methodologies, sampling, data collection tools, and online dissemination techniques are suitable for digital platforms
Keywords:
Open Access, Digital Technologies, Digital Repositories, Artificial Intelligence, Open Access Journals, Pre-print Servers, Open Educational Resources,Downloads
Published
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13757068Issue
Section
How to Cite
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Simon Kiplangat Bett , Dr. Elisha Ondieki Makori

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
References
Dienlin, T., Johannes, N., Bowman, N. D., Masur, P. K., Engesser, S., Kümpel, A. S., ...& De Vreese, C. (2021). Agenda for open science in communication. Journal of Communication, 71(1), 1-26.
Ramachandran, R., Bugbee, K., & Murphy, K. (2021). From open data to open science. Earth and Space Science, 8(5), e2020EA001562.
Tzanova, S. (2020). Changes in academic libraries in the era of Open Science. Education for Information, 36(3), 281-299.
Parti, K., and Szigeti, A. (2021). The future of interdisciplinary research in the digital era: Obstacles and perspectives of collaboration in social and data sciences: An empirical study. Powerful Social Sciences, 7(1), 1970880.
Dienlin, T., Johannes, N., Bowman, N. D., Masur, P. K., Engesser, S., Kümpel, A. S., ...& De Vreese, C. (2021). Agenda for open science in communication. Journal of Communication, 71(1), 1-26.
Vicente-Saez, R., Gustafsson, R., & Van den Brande, L. (2020). The dawn of an open exploration era: Emergent principles and practices of open science and innovation by university research teams in a digital world. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 156, 120037.
Ramachandran, R., Bugbee, K., & Murphy, K. (2021). From open data to open science. Earth and Space Science, 8(5), e2020EA001562.
Ali, M., Loan, F. A., & Muscat, R. (2018, February). Open access scientific digital repositories: An analytical study of the open door. In 2018 5th international symposium on emerging trends and technologies in libraries and information services (ETTLIS) (pp. 213-216). IEEE.
Lin, D., Crabtree, J., Dillon, I., Downs, R. R., Edmund, R., Garetta, D., & Westbrook, J. (2020). TRUST Principles for digital repositories. Scientific Data, 7(1), 144.
Morillo, F. (2020). Is open-access publication useful for all research fields? Presence of funding, collaboration, and impact. Scientometric, 125(1), 689-716.
Uzwyshyn, R. (2022). Steps toward building library AI infrastructures: Research data repositories, scholarly research ecosystems and AI scaffolding.
Ali, M., Loan, F. A., & Muscat, R. (2018, February). Open access scientific digital repositories: An analytical study of the open door. In 2018 5th international symposium on emerging trends and technologies in libraries and information services (ETTLIS) (pp. 213-216). IEEE.
Burgelman, J. C., Pascu, C., Szkuta, K., Von Schomberg, R., Karalopoulos, A., Repanas, K., and Schouppe, M. (2019). Open science, open data, and open scholarship: European policies designed to make science fit the twenty-first century. Frontiers in big data, 2, 43.
Uzwyshyn, R. (2022). Steps toward building library AI infrastructures: Research data repositories, scholarly research ecosystems and AI scaffolding.
Zhang, L., Li, J., Uhlir, P. F., Wen, L., Wu, K., Luo, Z., & Liu, Y. (2023). Research e-infrastructures for open science: The national example of CSTCloud in China. Data Intelligence, 5(2), 355-369.
Van Dijk, W., Schatschneider, C., & Hart, S. A. (2021). Open science in education sciences. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 54(2), 139-152.
Christensen, G., Wang, Z., Levy Paluck, E., Swanson, N., Birke, D., Miguel, E., & Littman, R. (2020). Open science practices are on the rise: The state of social science (3S) survey.
Ramachandran, R., Bugbee, K., & Murphy, K. (2021). From open data to open science. Earth and Space Science, 8(5), e2020EA001562.
Gold, E. R. (2021). The fall of the innovation empire and its possible rise through open science. Research Policy, 50(5), 104226.
Lin, D., Crabtree, J., Dillo, I., Downs, R. R., Edmunds, R., Giaretta D. & Westbrook, J. (2020). TRUST Principles for digital repositories. Scientific Data, 7(1), 144.
Nneka, C. M., and Kaosisochukwu, C. (2021). Institutional repository for global knowledge sharing. Journal of ICT Development, Applications, and Research, 3(2), 41-49.
Lin, D., Crabtree, J., Dillon, I., Downs, R. R., Edmund, R., Garetta, D., & Westbrook, J. (2020). TRUST Principles for digital repositories. Scientific Data, 7(1), 144.
Chowdhary, K., & Chowdhary, K. R. (2020). Natural language processing. Fundamentals of artificial intelligence, 603-649.
Kang, Y., Cai, Z., Tan, C. W., Huang, Q., & Liu, H. (2020). Natural language processing (NLP) in management research: A literature review. Journal of Management Analytics, 7(2), 139-172.
Tzanova, S. (2020). Changes in academic libraries in the era of Open Science. Education for Information, 36(3), 281-299.
Dienlin, T., Johannes, N., Bowman, N. D., Masur, P. K., Engesser, S., Kümpel, A. S., and De Vreese, C. (2021). Agenda for open science in communication. Journal of Communication, 71(1), 1-26.
Day, S., Rennie, S., Luo, D., & Tucker, J. D. (2020). Open to the public: Paywalls and public rationale for open access medical research publishing. Research involvement and engagement, 6(1), 1-7.
King, A. (2020). Fast news or fake news? Advantages and pitfalls of rapid publication through pre‐print servers during a pandemic. EMBO reports, 21(6), e50817.
Xie, B., Shen, Z., Wang, K. (2021). Is preprinting the future of science? A 30-year journey of online preprint services. preprint arXiv:2102.09066
Singh, P. K., & Singh, M. (2021). Use of open access resources during the COVID-19 lockdown by research students at GB Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar (India). Library Philosophy and Practice, (6349).
Demeter, M., &Istratii, R. (2020). Scrutinizing the meaning of open access journals mean for global inequalities. Publishing Research Quarterly, 36, 505-522.
Kraker et al. (2011) defined the four instruments of Open Science: Open Access (OA), Open Source (OS), Open Data (OD), and Open Methodology (OM), all representing the application of the concept of openness to each step in a research workflow.
Morillo, F. (2020). Is open-access publication useful for all research fields? Presence of funding, collaboration, and impact. Scientometric, 125(1), 689-716.
Verhoef, P. C., Broekhuizen, T., Bart, Y., Bhattacharya, A., Dong, J. Q., Fabian, N., &Haenlein, M. (2021). Digital transformation: A multidisciplinary reflection and research agenda. Journal of business research, 122, 889-901
Van Dijck, J. (2020). Governing digital societies: Private platforms, public values. Computer Law and Security Review, 36, 105377.
Graber, G., & van Trial, E. (2020). Uber: From global networks to digital platforms. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 52(5), 1005-1016.
Massey, D. S., Opare, M. A., Wallach, J. D., Ross, J. S., and Krumholz, H. M. (2020). Assessment of preprint policies of top-ranked clinical journals. JAMA Network Open, 3(7), e2011127-e2011127.
Kirkham, J. J., Penfold, N. C., Murphy, F., Boutron, I., Ioannidis, J. P., Polka, J., and Moher, D. (2020). Systematic examination of preprint platforms for use in the medical and biomedical sciences. BMJ Open 10(12), e041849.
Hoy, M. B. (2020). Rising Rxivs: How preprint servers are changing the publishing process. Medical Reference Services Quarterly, 39(1), 84-89.
McBride, M., and Abraham, S. (2022). Crossing boundaries through OER adoption: Considering open educational resources (OER) as boundary objects in higher education. Library and Information Science Research, 44(2), 101154.
Otto, D., Schroeder, N., Diekmann, D., & Sander, P. (2021). Trends and gaps in empirical research on open educational resources (OER): A systematic mapping of the literature from 2015 to 2019. Contemporary Educational Technology, 13(4), pp. 325-326.
Huang, R., Tlili, A., Chang, T. W., Zhang, X., Nascimbeni, F., & Burgos, D. (2020). Disrupted classes and undisrupted learning during the COVID-19 outbreak in China: application of open educational practices and resources. Smart Learning Environments, 7, 1-15.
Malički, M., Jerončić, A., TerRiet, G., Bouter, L. M., Ioannidis, J. P., Goodman, S. N., and Aalbersberg, I. J. (2020). Preprint servers’ policies, submission requirements, and transparency in reporting and research integrity recommendations. JAMA, 324(18), 1901-1903.
Berners-Lee, T., Hendler, J., & Salasa, O. (2023). The Semantic Web: A new form of Web content that is meaningful to computers will unleash revolutions in new possibilities. In Linking the World’s Information: Essays on Tim Berners-Lee’s Invention of the World Wide Web (pp. 91-103).
Stellate, A., Fiorello, M., Turbata, A., Lorenzetti, T., Van Cement, W., chandon, D., .& Keizer, J. (2020). VocBench 3: A collaborative Semantic Web editor for ontologies, thesauri and lexicons. Semantic Web, 11(5), 855-881.
Narayanasamy, S. K., Srinivasan, K., Hu, Y. C., Masilamani, S. K., and Huang, K. Y. (2022). A contemporary review of semantic web technologies in healthcare, virtual communities, and ontology-based information processing systems. Electronics, 11(3), 453.
Lampropoulos, G., Keramopoulos, E., and Diamantaras, K. (2020). Enhancing the functionality of AR using deep learning, semantic web, and knowledge graphs: A review. Visual Informatics, 4(1), 32-42.
Martinez-Rodriguez, J. L., Hogan, A., & Lopez-Arevalo, I. (2020). Information extraction meets the semantic web: a survey. Semantic Web, 11(2), 255-335.
Hylén, J. (2020). Open educational resources: Opportunities and challenges.
Cozart, D. L., Horan, E. M., &Frome, G. (2021). Rethinking Traditional Textbooks: A Case for Open Educational Resources (OER) and No-Cost Learning Materials. Teaching and Learning Inquiry, 9(2), n2.
WHen, U., Nobel, C., Bowser, A., Hepburn, L., and Hamaklay, M. (2020). Global citizen science perspectives on open science.
Liu, H. Y., Dörler, D., Heigl, F., &Grossberndt, S. (2021). Citizen science platforms. The science of citizen science, 22, 439-459.
Schaaf, A. A., Haag, L. M., Gonzalez Baffa‐Trasci, N. V., Yapura, A., Chocobar, N., Caldano, S. A., and Ruggera, R. A. (2024). Comparing different citizen science platforms to collect urban ecological data from Toco toucan (Ramphastostoco) in Argentina. Austral Ecology, 49(2), e13459–e13459.
Bonney, R. (2021). Expanding the impact of citizen science. BioScience, 71(5), 448-451.
Sánchez-Clavijo, L. M., Martínez-Callejas, S. J., Acevedo-Charry, O., Diaz-Pulido, A., Gómez-Valencia, B., Ocampo-Peñuela, N., ...& Ochoa-Quintero, J. M. (2021). Differential reporting of biodiversity on two citizen science platforms during the COVID-19 lockdown in Colombia. Biological Conservation, 256, 109077.