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Journal of Science Policy & Governance | Volume 18, Issue 01 | March 24, 2021

Policy Memo: Open Science in Spain: Towards a Coordinated Strategy
To: Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation

J.P. Manzano-Patrón (1,2), Isabel López-Neira (1), Pablo Izquierdo (1,3)
  1. Department of Science Policy, Society of Spanish Researchers in the United Kingdom (SRUK)
  2. Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre, Faculty of Medicine, University of Nottingham
  3. Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology, University College London

Corresponding address: [email protected]
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https://doi.org/10.38126/JSPG180108
Keywords: open science; open access; reproducibility; standardization; Spain
Executive Summary: Research is being transformed by transparency, collaboration, public engagement and shareability, which are key elements of the Open Science (OS) movement. Open Access (OA), one of its main areas of action, aims to make all research freely available. Benefits of OA have already triggered a shift toward its implementation at the European and international level, with funders creating new platforms to support an ecosystem of open publications and data. Despite remarkable early contributions by Spain in terms of OS pilot initiatives and specifically OA publication performance, the latter has declined by more than a third since 2016. Moreover, no new indicators have been put forward since, even though openness remains to be deemed a strength. In this policy memo, we examine policy options to support OS in the country, with a focus on OA. These could be structured by a National Strategy for Openness, including actions to ensure OA for all publicly funded research, standardization of procedures, and the re-design of assessment criteria to incorporate reproducibility of outputs, knowledge dissemination and transfer.

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J.P. Manzano-Patrón is currently doing a PhD in Computational Neuroscience & AI at the University of Nottingham and is a member of the Science Policy committee at the Society of Spanish Researchers in the UK (SRUK). He is actively involved in Open Science and the dissemination of scientific knowledge initiatives, such as in the Brainhack community.
 
Isabel López-Neira holds an M.S. in Science, Technology and Society from University College London (UCL). She has explored questions of fairness linked to technology and innovation while researching at UCL’s Department of Science, Technology, Engineering and Public Policy (STEaPP). Isabel is a member of the Science Policy committee at SRUK.
 
Pablo Izquierdo is a 4th year graduate student in the Wellcome Trust Neuroscience program at University College London. He holds a B.S. in Biochemistry from Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and a M.S. in Neuroscience from University College London. He works as a science communicator and serves as Director of Science Policy at SRUK.
 
Acknowledgements
The policy options outlined expand on SRUK’s recent analysis “Por un país innovador” (“For an innovative country”). The authors thank all other contributors and independent experts for their valuable input.
DISCLAIMER: The findings and conclusions published herein are solely attributed to the author and not necessarily endorsed or adopted by the Journal of Science Policy and Governance. Articles are distributed in compliance with copyright and trademark agreements.

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