LUH Open Science Strategy

Leibniz University Hannover actively supports the vision of open science. It has committed to open science in accordance with the UNESCO “Recommendation on Open Science”^[i] and is working actively to advance the open-science transformation. With this Open Science Strategy, LUH aims to align the university’s strategic direction with the open science guidelines of national, European and international actors such as the European Commission,^[ii], [iii] the federal government,^[iv] and the German Research Foundation (DFG).^[v]

The term “open science” refers to the opening up of research, the methods and infrastructure required to do this, and the desired results. Open science promotes the transparency, accessibility, traceability and reproduceability of scientific results and academic practices.

Open practices support the following goals, among others:

• Increase trust in scientific findings
• Create conditions that enable the assessment of research quality
• Accelerate scientific progress and innovation
• Increase efficiency and optimise resource use
• Make the results of publicly funded research available to the public

This Open Science Strategy references existing LUH guidelines on the opening up of the scientific research process and outlines cross-cutting topics which accompany the transformation process.

The Open Science Strategy serves as an invitation to all faculties and LUH members to engage with the concept of open science and develop their own priorities based on the specific requirements of their respective disciplines.

Open science includes the dimensions open access, open and FAIR research data, open and FAIR software, open infrastructure, open research methodology and open educational resources. These dimensions overlap, which means that a clear boundary between the terms is not always possible. All the dimensions contribute to the goals of open science.

The Regulations of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität Hannover for Safeguarding Good Scientific Practice outline the basic parameters for open science.

Open access

LUH recommends and supports open access to research findings for academia, the business sector and society. Specific goals and principles are laid out in the Leibniz University Hannover Open Access Policy.

Open and FAIR research data

Research data are highly relevant for the traceability and dissemination of scientific findings. Principles for the documentation, archiving and publication of research data are outlined in the Guidelines for Handling Research Data at Leibniz University Hannover.

Open and FAIR software

Scientific software and its documentation should be publicly accessible and citable. This enhances the visibility and usability of scientific software development as a research achievement and a contribution to supporting research, and increases the importance assigned to it. Generally, such software is provided in an open-source format with the corresponding licensing.^_[vi]

Open infrastructure

Open infrastructure, such as repositories, enables open access to and exchange of research findings and is based as much as possible on open-source software and open interfaces and formats. As laid out in the LUH IT Strategy, preference is given to the use of open standards and documented APIs.

Open research methodology

The transparent, publicly accessible documentation of the scientific process (e.g. through pre-registration, lab protocols) and the publication or, at a minimum, citation of all hardware and software (e.g. devices, operating system and research software, analytical code) increases the traceability and reproduceability of research.

Open educational resources

LUH supports the increased accessibility of teaching materials, which can be made available free of charge through an open licence.

The transformation to open science can only be successful if it is accompanied by a simultaneous cultural transformation. This cultural transformation is supported via the following cross-cutting approaches:

• Transformation of the research assessment culture (Responsible research assessment)
  A change in the research assessment culture is necessary to allow for the recognition of engagement in open science.^[vii] With the signing of the Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment^[viii] from the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA), LUH has committed to incorporating activities that support open science as a building block in assessment processes.
• Skills development
  The open science transformation requires employees at all academic levels to (further) develop skills related to the individual dimensions of open science. For this reason, the existing information and training offers are being expanded on an ongoing basis.

LUH encourages its members to actively explore the possibilities of open science and to take advantage of the support offered. A targeted website provides information about these support activities. An implementation plan sets out priorities for the remaining process.

You can find more information here: https://www.uni-hannover.de/de/universitaet/profil/ziele-strategien/open-science

Comment

The LUH Open Science Strategy has incorporated significant elements of the document Leibniz Open Science Policy (November 2022).

_{[i] UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science - UNESCO Digital Library. Accessed 31 March 2022. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000379949.locale=en}

_{[ii] Council conclusions on the transition towards an Open Science system, adopted by the Council at its 3470th meeting held on 27 May. 2016.  https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-9526-2016-INIT/en/pdf}

_{[iii] Open Innovation, Open Science, Open to the World | Shaping Europe’s Digital Future, 16 June 2016. https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/open-innovation-open-science-open-world}

_{[iv] Digital Future:  Learning.  Research. Knowledge. The Digital Strategy of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) (in German).  (2019). Accessed 20 March 2023. https://www.bildung-forschung.digital/digitalezukunft/shareddocs/Downloads/files/bmbf_digitalstrategie.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=2}

_{[v] German Research Foundation (DFG). (2022). Open Science as Part of Research Culture. Positioning of the German Research Foundation (DFG). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7193838}

_{[vi] Chue Hong, Neil P., Katz, Daniel S., Barker, Michelle, Lamprecht, Anna-Lena, Martinez, Carlos, Psomopoulos, Fotis E., Harrow, Jen, et al. (2022). FAIR Principles for Research Software (FAIR4RS Principles). doi:10.15497/RDA00068}

_{[vii] German Research Foundation (DFG) | Publication Working Group. (2022). Academic Publishing as a Foundation and Area of Leverage for Research Assessment. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6538163}

_{[viii]The Agreement – full text. (No date) COARA. Accessed 20 March 2023. https://coara.eu/agreement/the-agreement-full-text/}