OpenVentures/OpenResearch

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Open Data

Open data is data that “...anyone can freely access, use and share for any purpose (subject, at most, to requirements that preserve provenance and openness).” (Opendefinition) One example of open data are datasets released by Statistics Canada.

In February 2015, Ed Holder, Canadian Minister of State (Science and Technology) announced a new policy requiring all peer-reviewed journal publications funded by one of the three federal granting agencies be available for free within 12 months of publication. This included publications from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). This policy change came as a direct result of a desire to advance knowledge through open access for Canadians. In addition to open access to research publications, this policy also calls for all CIHR funded researchers to contribute all of the bioinformatics, atomic, and molecular coordinate data into public databases upon publication of their results.

One benefit to open data and research is that other students, scientists and researchers can benefit from information collected for one purpose, and potentially utilize it to conduct their own research. This is frequently the case as regards datasets from Statistics Canada. However, there are downsides to open data. First, research data management is an emerging field, and is completed inconsistently (an issue in front of the Tri-Council Agency). Without well maintained and organized data, it's difficult for external users to access and use data. Open data can also suffer from lack of guidelines, formatting or the use of proprietary file formats for storage. All of this can make data that could be valuable, difficult to use or useless.

Educational Perspective

Open data presents an enormous value to educators. With datasets broadly available, it's possible to ask students to examine real-life circumstances and to make assumptions or forecasts based on past performance. Open data also drives collaboration at the post-secondary level, allowing researchers to package their data for re-use by other researchers, often in different fields. This helps to minimize data gathering, and maximize data extraction.

Market Analysis

Open data continues to be a developing area. There continues to be room for those interested in providing research data management services, and in the development of data management plans or platforms to help facilitate the use of data. Open data also feeds into existing open repositories, helping to populate local institutional collections with data representative of the work being completed, helping to attract other faculty and research dollars to the institutions.

Open Science

Open science is, broadly, the principle of sharing the results of research and findings as broadly as possible. Open science can be seen as the broader umbrella under which open journals, open access and other parts of the open movement fall. The Government of Canada provides an open access toolbox for researchers with links to data repositories, resources, and directories here http://www.science.gc.ca/default.asp?lang=En&n=ECEFDFAA-1. Below, we'll share some examples of open science ventures to get you thinking more about how open science can be enacted in your everyday life and in your classroom!

Diagram of open science taxonomy

Genspace

Genspace is a biology lab and research facility in New York, NY dedicated to open science. In their biosafety level one facility, they focus on education and experimentation for all members of the public to encourage interest in the sciences, particularly biotechnology.

Educational Perspective

Genspace offers many learners the unique opportunity to be hands-on with science. Their lab isn't based on success or grades, rather focuses on experimentation, fun, and basic principles of science. It is an opportunity for those who may not have any science background, but with an interest, to begin to explore biology and science in a unique, low pressure environment. Their model relies heavily on constructionist theory.

Market Analysis

As a non-profit, educational venture, Genspace is not interested in generating income, rather in developing minds. Centers like this are important to the marketplace because they speed research acceleration, by increasing the numbers of those involved in independent research projects, and by interesting greater numbers of new students in scientific exploration.

Open Tree of Life

Open Tree of Life is a continually-updated phylogenetic tree of all species of life on Earth. It is a collaboration between 11 principal investigators and 10 institutions . The taxonomic data are included with the trees and viewers can leave comments to help refine the project.

Educational Perspective

Students, other researchers, and other interested parties can benefit from learning about the relationships between species as research becomes available. Even those who are not part of the main collaboration can submit synthetic trees for curation. 

Market Analysis

This resource may help several biotech and pharmaceutical companies interested in the relationships between various species at no cost to the companies themselves. Additionally, much of the current research is not available in digital formats and can be time consuming to review. Open Tree of Life helps to organize thousands of studies and creates a platform for viewing future research.

Open Science School

The Open Science School [OSS] exists to help high school students "learn by doing". They initially began their work with a focus on biology, but have expanded to employ constructivist techniques in a variety of subject areas, by embracing the principles of DIY.

Educational Perspective

The OSS creates resources, modules and experiments for high school students. This program offers unique opportunities for students to interact, hands-on, with science in a way that is practical and literal. It introduces constructivist techniques into lecture-centric classrooms, and allows for creative exploration.

Market Analysis

OSS offers a scalable model that could be utilized by schools and school districts broadly. They market not only a philosophy of creative learning, but also tangible items like lab kits and other scientific tools to support the conduct of such research. With good marketing, this is a real opportunity for an acceleration of marketing to gain footing in the educational sphere.

PLOS One

PLOS One came onto the scene in 2006 and served as a major disruptor with respect to accessibility of journal articles. Since then, over 30 000 papers have been published through their site.

Educational Perspective:

PLOS One gives open access to their journals, meaning that there is no financial barrier for schools to have the latest and most up to date scientific findings. This could allow for advanced classes to dive into authentic works in a format that is standardized. On a post secondary level, the PLOS One model of Open Access allows for schools to save money on journal subscriptions.

Market Analysis:

The market has changed considerably since the arrival of PLOS One on the scene. Rather than paying for content, PLOS One has a model wherein the researchers pay to publish. PLOS One has agreed to waive fees when an individual is not capable of paying for publication. Many Mega Journals, such as Nature, have changed their business model to align with PLOS One, indicating that there is a major shift in the perspective of Open Access to Journals.

Connected Researchers

Website URL: http://connectedresearchers.com/online-tools-for-researchers/

Connected Researchers lists all the useful tools for researchers. Most of these tools are for exploring research literature and accessing open research data.

Educational Perspective:

Connected Researchers is like a social media for the researchers, with added attraction of hosting numerous useful digital tools. This site provides all necessary tools required for a researcher. Tools are also categorized and summarized as per their usage. This is like a one-stop website that contains all required information to find research data.Moreover being a lot like a social media, users can comment ask questions , form communities.