Open Science

Open science policy: at Charles University
Charles University currently has no mandatory institutional open-science policy. However, the Charles University Code of Conduct states that academic and scientific staff and students, in their scientific and scholarly work, shall take into account the latest developments in their field, shall be responsible for the appropriateness, accuracy and objectivity of the methods used, and shall take care to avoid distortion. They shall take care of the data and/or materials under study, ensure that they are accurately described, and follow standard methods for their protection and archiving. They shall ensure that the procedures and results of scientific and scholarly work are reviewable. They shall adhere to professional-ethics rules specific to their field of endeavour. (Part III, paragraph 4) and they shall not publish in an ethically questionable manner, including through the use of ethically questionable publishing platforms. They shall not appropriate the results of the work of others, and they shall not engage in plagiarism. (Part III, paragraph 7)

• More about the progress of open-science support at Charles University and about national and international open-science policy can be found here.
• Amendment to the Copyright Act (241/2022): On 5 January 2023, the new Act No 429/2022, extensively amending Act No 121/2000, the Copyright Act, entered into force. This amendment transposed the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market (the “Directive”) into Czech law. The most discussed new aspect is undoubtedly the enshrinement of a new right of the publisher of a printed publication to receive reasonable remuneration for granting permission to the use thereof by providers of online content sharing services such as Google, Twitter or Facebook. However, the amendment also introduces completely new statutory licences, i.e. exceptions to copyright, which may significantly affect academic life. One exception is for the use of the work in digital learning, and another two exceptions are made for automated analysis of texts or data. More information can be found here.

Open science is not just about open-access publishing and research data management.   

• The most well-known sectors of open science include: open access, research data management, citizen science, and open educational resources. The FOSTER portal offers the following open-science taxonomy. 
• As in the previous framework programme, Horizon Europe requires all beneficiaries to provide open access to academic information in the form of publications, research data and other outputs, and to establish a data management plan. In a new development, open science is included in the project evaluation.

More information on open science under Horizon Europe can be found on a separate page of the Open Science Support Centr

What is open science?

According to FOSTER, Open Science is the practice of science in such a way that others can collaborate and contribute, where research data, lab notes and other research processes are freely available, under terms that enable reuse, redistribution and reproduction of the research and its underlying data and methods. 

What does open science include?

While open access and open research data / research data management might be the most familiar parts of open science, they are not the only ones. Open science includes other practices such as citizen science, open educational resources, open peer-review and a lot more. You can explore these branches of open science on the FOSTER website which provides the following taxonomy of open science. 

What open science requirements are there in Horizon Europe?

Horizon Europe includes an obligation to ensure open access to scientific information – peer-reviewed publications, as well as research data and other research outputs. Beneficiaries are also required to prepare a data management plan. In Horizon Europe, open science is now also included in the evaluation of proposals.