Incentives and Rewards to Engage in Open Science Activities

Abstract

This report has been produced following the 3rd working meeting of the participants in the Mutual Learning Exercise (MLE) on Open Science, which was hosted by Croatia in Dubrovnik on 12 and 13 September 2017. It provides an overview and assessment of the various practices currently being used and/or investigated to incentivise and reward researchers and their institutions for engaging in open science activities. The report starts with a section (section 2) outlining the Open Science agenda and aims and its role within the broader research and science policy landscape. Section 3 outlines the advantages and challenges underpinning the implementation of Open Science, thereby providing the necessary background to the discussion on incentives and rewards which can foster such activities. Section 4 reports on the discussions emerging from the MLE participants and outlines key concerns and feedback gathered by Member States on how Open Science can and should be fostered. Sections 4, 5 and 6 detail the incentives and rewards that could be provided, or in some cases have already been implemented, by three groups of key stakeholders: researchers themselves; research-performing institutions and funding bodies; and national governments. In conclusion, a summary is made of the main advantages and disadvantages of each type of incentive, with suggestions as to who is mainly responsible for managing its implementation. The report is based on a review of relevant background academic literature and policy documents, discussions at previous MLE meetings (particularly the one on alternative metrics for Open Science, which took place in May 2017 in Helsinki), and on answers to open-ended questions sent to the MLE participants ahead of the meeting. Data have also been sourced from the European Open Science Monitor which, at the time of writing, is the most comprehensive source of information on Open Science implementation policies across European Member States (http://ec.europa.eu/research/openscience).