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1 year ago in Open Access Movement By Divya

What is the difference between open access and open science/open research?

I hear "open access," "open science," and "open research" used interchangeably. Are they the same thing? If not, how do they fit together?

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By Reeta Khanna Answered 1 year ago

Think of Open Access (OA) as one crucial component of the much larger Open Science (OS) ecosystem. OA focuses on making the final published output (the article) freely available. Open Science advocates for openness throughout the entire research lifecycle: Open Data (sharing datasets), Open Code (sharing analysis scripts), Open Materials (sharing protocols), Open Peer Review (transparent reviewer reports), and Pre-registration of studies. OA is about access to the conclusion; OS is about access to the process, enabling reproducibility, collaboration, and trust. "Open Research" is often used synonymously with OS, sometimes emphasizing its application across all disciplines, including humanities. You can practice OA without OS (just sharing the PDF), but true OS inherently includes OA as its publishing component.

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