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Open research data and methods, Open access to research data, Open access to research methods and infrastructures

Policy objective

Research data and methods are as open as possible and as closed as necessary. The data is managed appropriately with the aim of implementing the FAIR principles.1 Research methods and research data are identified as independent research outputs.

Introduction

This policy consists of policy components. The first policy component concerns research data and is completed in the spring of 2021. The policy component on research methods, including code and software, is estimated to be completed in 2022. On a general level, the openness of research data and methods and good data management improve the possibilities of research verification and promote the appropriate reuse of existing research data and methods. Openness increases global equality, as the research data can be accessed by researchers globally. This in turn promotes the emergence of new innovations. The openness of research data and methods raises significant questions related to research integrity and legislation and involves restrictions, of which researchers and others working in data management must be aware. To implement equality both on a national and an inter-national level, openness of research data and methods must be promoted in an economically sustainable way. Economically sustainable fostering of openness means that key open science infrastructures are not profit-ori-ented. In Finland, research data produced with public funding must be open accessible for all.

Freedom of research and the responsibility of the researcher

This policy is based on national and international policies on open access to research data and methods. Its objective is to support the principles of open science and increase freedom of research as well as researchers’ possibilities of distributing and utilising research-based knowledge. It is the researcher’s responsibility to carry out research of the best possible quality, which includes responsible management of research data and methods. The repository selected for the research data and methods must be such that it best suits the whole in question and provides service in accordance with the FAIR principles. The purpose of open access is to make the further use of research data and methods as open as possible. The degree of openness can be restricted for justified reasons. The research community must guarantee the skills, incentives, resources and structures for opening research data and methods (e.g., infrastructures and services) in a way that supports and respects the work and equality of the researchers.

International context

This policy has been drawn up utilising the extensive national and international work that has been and is done towards promoting the openness of research data. Good summaries of this work are, among others, the plan drawn up by the Association of European Research Universities, Open Science and its Role in Universities: A Roadmap for Cultural Change (2018), and the final report published by the European Commission, Turning FAIR into Reality. Final report and action plan from the European Commission expert group on FAIR data (2018) . The operating environment is further shaped by current and future EU regulation on the openness of data, e.g. the Open Data Directive. Scholarly publishers require authors of research publications to provide open access to their data and methods. Scholarly publishers also allow or require authors to save their research data or methods in repositories that can be closed, open or behind paywallsFirst draft of the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science, [1].

Funders require the opening of research data and methods, which is closely connected to good research data management. An example of this is Science Europe’s guideline Practical Guide to the International Alignment of Research Data Management.

By ensuring that the Finnish policy reflects the international development, the Finnish research community participates in the creation of common international practices in this swiftly growing and developing area. Finnish operators actively participate in European and international work, e.g. in the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) and Research Data Alliance (RDA) communities. The Finnish research community participates in a dialogue where it can obtain good practices and contribute to the creation of workable solutions.

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or we can make a localized link to Open science

Principle 1: Responsible management of research data and methods

Research data and methods shall be managed, opened and used responsibly and appropriately.

Ensuring the realisation and monitoring of the principle:

• Baseline: Responsible management of research data and methods is the most important prerequisite for openness. The research community has identified deficiencies in its practices.
• Continuous monitoring: Continuous monitoring will be carried out as part of the national monitoring of open science and research.

Principle 2: Data management infrastructures and services

Researchers have access to infrastructures and services that enable responsible data management, and these are developed further in an economically sustainable way, taking into account the researchers’ needs.

Ensuring the realisation and monitoring of the principle:

• Baseline review: During 2021, the Open Science Coordination will, in cooperation with the research organisations and service providers, specify a minimum level of research data management infrastructures and services.
• Continuous monitoring:: No later than 2022, the Open Science Coordination will draw up an evaluation templateMaterials-footnote-8 for future use in organisations as an evaluation tool in regular self-evaluation. Continuous monitoring will be carried out as part of the national monitoring of open science and research.

Principle 3: Incentives for opening of research data and methods

The researcher’s merits in the promotion of good data management, work related to research data and methods, and the appropriate opening of research data and methods are valued and can support the researcher’s career.

Ensuring the realisation and monitoring of the principle:

• Baseline: No later than 2022, the Open Science Coordination will draw up a recommendation on good practices, i.e. how the promotion of good data management, work related to research data, and the opening of research data shall be considered in the researcher’s work, and how these merits will be evaluated.
• Continuous monitoring: Continuous monitoring will be carried out as part of the national monitoring of open science and research.

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The publication in its entirety is available on the Internet free of charge and without restrictions to read, print and copy at least for non-commercial use.

FAIR principles are a set of guidelines to make research data Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable. This facilitates scientific discovery and access to knowledge. (Open Science and Research Coordination in Finland 2023, 34.)

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Availability refers to the accessibility of information in, for example, a public document. This means that the information in the document can be used at the desired time and in the required manner. An accessible document may, for example, be openly accessible or available on request.