24 November 2009

Promoting Open Source Science

Open source science certainly seems to be catching on lately: there have been as many articles on the subject in the last few months as in the prevous few years. Here's a good one, an interview with Walter Jessen. This is his definition of what open source science means:

Open Source Science is a collaborative and transparent approach to science. To me, it means four things:

1. Open Source: the use of open and freely accessible software tools for scientific research and collaboration.
2. Open Notebook: transparency in experimental design and data management.
3. Open Data: public accessibility of scientific data, which allows for distribution, reuse and derived works.
4. Open Access: public access to scholarly literature.

It's well-worth reading, not least for its useful links to related sites.

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4 comments:

  1. Cassandros the Elder3:31 am

    If we could get the scientists at the Climatic Research Unit of the University of East Anglia to open up (data and source code), that would be a nice start.

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  2. Glyn Moody6:35 am

    @tpegbert: well quite - would have avoided lots of problems...

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  3. Martin Budden12:20 pm

    Sadly people are forgetting history. Science has been open for millennia. It only started to close off in the past century or so. It is encouraging that science is returning to its roots, even if this is perceived as science taking a new direction.

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  4. Glyn Moody12:23 pm

    @Martin: yes, ironic, isn't it?

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