Open Science

By opening up the processes of scientific knowledge creation and communication to those beyond the scientific community, scientific knowledge becomes openly available, accessible and reusable. At VU Amsterdam, we believe the dissemination of our shared knowledge generates significant positive effects and benefits for society. Open Science is predicated on five principles:

Transparency

We believe that transparency over how we create and share scientific knowledge is crucial for a responsible and trustworthy academic environment.

Reproducibility

We believe that our scientific work should be verifiable and reproducible.

Collaboration

We believe that collaboration within academia and beyond enhances our research and education.

Collective Benefit

We believe that scientific knowledge should benefit everyone.

Equity

We believe that academia should be inclusive, diverse and equitable.

Open Access

Open Access publishing entails putting your publication online so that it is available to everyone, free of charge. It is the ambition of VU Amsterdam to make all scientific publications openly available. The new Open Access policy makes open publishing the new norm for all VU Amsterdam researchers. The University Library offers support regarding the different publishing routes to Open Access to help ensure that researchers comply with these principles.

Open Data

Instead of archiving research data in a data repository, you may choose to publish an article about your data collection and make your data available to the general public, thus making it more FAIR.

On LibGuide you can find further information about Open Access publishing, publishing your data in a data journal, how persistent identifiers can help making your data FAIR and how you can use licensing to control how your data can be used.

Make your software open source

- It allows you to get credit for your work which can lead to increased recognition and collaboration opportunities within the academic and research community.

- You contribute to the reproducibility, credibility, impact, and sustainability of your work in the long term.

To promote the impact of your software, consider these recommendations:

- Make sure an appropriate license is included to define the set of rules and conditions for people who want to use your software

- Share your code in a registry so it can be found by others and you can track its impact.

- Allow others to cite your work

- Publish your software in a journal