LIBER Launches Open Science Roadmap

Open Science undoubtedly has the power to positively influence society. It can make science more collaborative, reproducible, transparent and impactful.

Its implementation is, however, not yet universal. A revolution is required: one which opens up research processes and changes mindsets in favour of a world where policies, tools and infrastructures universally support the growth and sharing of knowledge.

Research libraries are well placed to make that revolution happen and LIBER, as Europe’s largest network of research libraries, wants to support them in that endeavour. That’s why LIBER has written an Open Science Roadmap outlining the specific actions libraries can take to champion Open Science, both within and beyond their own institutions.

The Roadmap calls for libraries to advocate for Open Science locally and internationally, to support Open Science through tools and services and to expand the impact of their work through collaboration and partnerships. The challenges, opportunities and practical steps which can be taken are explained in the context of seven focus areas:

• Scholarly Publishing
• FAIR Data
• Research Infrastuctures and the EOSC
• Metrics & Rewards
• Open Science Skills
• Research Integrity
• Citizen Science

LIBER addresses these topics in its own 2018-2022 Strategy, and hopes that this Roadmap will enable Europe’s research libraries to do the same.

The Roadmap was written during spring 2018, when the Open Science Policy Platform (OSPP) produced integrated advice for the EC and key stakeholders. People from across the LIBER community translated the OSPP recommendations for libraries and combined them with suggestions drawn from their own expertise and experiences.