About Open Science

Open Science

Open science is a movement focused on making scientific research and its outputs freely available to everyone. This includes open access to publications, data, code, and other research materials, promoting transparency, collaboration, and reproducibility in research. It aims to accelerate scientific progress, enhance the impact of research, and build public trust in science.

Key aspects of open science:
  • Open Access: Making research publications freely available online, without paywalls or restrictions on access. 
  • Open Data: Sharing research data in a way that allows other researchers to access, reuse, and build upon the data. 
  • Open Source: Making software and code used in research freely available for others to use, modify, and distribute. 
  • Open Peer Review: Making the peer review process more transparent, sometimes by publishing peer reviews alongside the research article. 
  • Open Methodology: Transparency in research methods, workflows, and protocols to allow reproducibility.
  • Open Educational Resources (OER): eaching, learning, and research materials that are freely available for anyone to use and adapt.
Benefits of Open Science
  • Accelerated Scientific Progress: Open access to research outputs allows researchers to build on each other’s work more quickly. 
  • Increased Impact: Making research more accessible to a wider audience can lead to greater impact on society. 
  • Enhanced Reproducibility: Open access to data and code makes it easier for other researchers to verify and reproduce research findings. 
  • Improved Transparency and Trust: Openness in the research process fosters transparency and can help build public trust in science. 
  • Greater Collaboration: Open science practices encourage collaboration among researchers from different institutions and disciplines. 
  • Citizen Science: Open science can facilitate greater public engagement in research and innovation. 
  • Equitable Access: Open science can help address inequalities in access to research and knowledge, particularly for researchers and communities in developing countries. 
National Open Science Guidelines

The Academy of Sciences Malaysia and Malaysia Open Science Alliance has developed the guidelines on open science to guide researchers to implement open science.

Click here to read the document: Guidelines of Open Science on Public Funded Research

Malaysia Open Science Platform

In recent years, Open Science movement is gaining traction in many countries with international bodies such as International Science Council (ISC), Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the World Bank are championing and advocating Open Science globally. The international principle of making research data Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable (FAIR) will not only democratize knowledge, it reinforces open scientific inquiry and integrity, enables better research management and promotes open innovation, citizen science as well as data intensive research. Integrating the diverse data streams and huge datasets across multiple disciplines offers unprecedented insights and solutions towards local, regional and global complex challenges.

Recognizing the importance of harnessing the potential impact of Open Science, the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) has launched the Malaysia Open Science Platform (MOSP) Pilot Initiative on 7 November 2019. Through the Academy of Sciences Malaysia (ASM), the Malaysia Open Science Alliance was formed to pave the way towards realizing MOSP as a strategic transformative initiative to strengthen STI Collaborative Ecosystem for Malaysia. The aim of this initiative is to make Malaysia’s research data as a valuable national asset by developing a trusted platform that enables accessibility and sharing of research data aligned to national priorities and international best practices.

The Pilot Initiative with five Research Universities (RU) is a three-year (2020-2022) project funded by MOSTI, spearheaded by Malaysia Open Science Alliance and implemented by the Academy of Sciences Malaysia (ASM). 

Sources: https://www.akademisains.gov.my/mosp/

Additional Resources:
Further Readings and Resources
Awareness Program

The UPM Library actively conducts various Open Science awareness activities throughout the year. These efforts aim to increase understanding among researchers, students, and the public about the importance of open access, open data, and responsible research practices.

Further Readings

UPM Hosts Open Science Month to Strengthen Research Transparency and Collaboration

For more information, please contact the UPM Library’s Research and Information Services Division at  psas_sp@upm.edu.my