Open Science Scale

What is the scale of the French open flag?

The French Open Science Scale aims to Measuring the evolution of open science practices in France using reliable, open and controlled data. Launched in 2019 by the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, as part of the National Plan for Open Science and the French National Action Plan under the Partnership for Open Government (PGO), it provides detailed indicators on open access to scientific publications and integrates things specific to the field of health research.

new version

The new generation of the French Open Science Scale is based on an enhanced methodology, based on the use of open data (particularly fromunpaywall, a global database of metadata for scholarly publications providing information on the open status of publications), authoritative and controlled. They will be now Quarterly updates. The methodology is detailed; Code and data are available under an open license. To improve the user experience and make information more accessible, it has a new interface and new data visualizations.

The barometer is divided into two parts:

• general scaleThis provides many indications of the openness of French scientific publications in all disciplines
• health scalefocused on health research and its funding through the COVID-19 emergency budget of the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation

Among the improvements in the analysis of scholarly publications in open access, the new indicators provide information on the diversity of economic models of open access publication, with or without publication costs (APC) at the expense of researchers or their institutions.

The level of openness of publications varies greatly from one discipline to another. Some disciplines, such as the physical sciences and mathematics, have long committed to opening their publications, while others, such as chemistry, are rapidly catching up.

These improvements can now be easily generalized to higher education and research institutions, thanks to the methodology currently being tested at the University of Lorraine, CEA and other institutions.

health scale

The Health Scale includes and focuses on all indicators related to publications in the field of health research New organisms: clinical trials and observational studies. In particular, it provides many indications about the recording of clinical trials and their results in public records such as ClinicalTrials.gov. or or European Union clinical trial registry.

Thus the barometer emphasizes this basic practice of medical research work, as it makes it possible to avoid:

• Double Trials
• Expedite the dissemination of results, whether positive or negative
• To combat “publication bias” (which means ignoring negative outcomes because they do not lead to scholarly publication)
• To increase transparency and thus the confidence of the concerned patients

2021 release also follows Transparency of clinical trial results conducted in France. Only 57% of clinical trials completed in the past 10 years appear to have shared their results publicly.