JSPG, UNESCO and MGCY RELEASE VOLUME 21, ISSUE 02

Media COntact

UNESCO
​Ana Persic 
[email protected]
+ 33 (0) 1 45 68 17 00

MGCY
Ona Ambrozaite
[email protected]
[email protected]
630-440-0542

Journal of Science Policy & Governance
André Porter
[email protected]

Washington, DC (December 12, 2022) – The Journal of Science Policy & Governance (JSPG), the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Major Group for Children and Youth (MGCY) are pleased to release Volume 21, Issue 02, of the journal, the Special Topic Issue on Open Science Polices as an Accelerator for Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

“Early-career researchers and youth play an important role in driving the cultural shift towards open science, while carefully navigating the impact of evolving open science policies. It is, therefore, crucial to encourage and empower young researchers to participate in decision-making that can shape the future of science and ensure that their voices are heard by other decision-makers. I hope that this special issue can amplify the voice of those young researchers who have recognized that open science policies can serve as an accelerator for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals," Ms. Shamila Nair-Bedouelle, Assistant Director-General for Natural Sciences, UNESCO. 

In the cover memo, Ms. Shamila Nair-Bedouelle noted that the open science movement has been driven by researchers who want to share, collaborate and engage with other researchers and with society, highlighted the recommendations put forth in the issue articles by early-career authors, and acknowledged members of the Major Group for Children and Youth and of the Global Young Academy (Open Science Working Group) for their contributions to the issue. 

“We are very proud of the contributing articles that encourage the use of open science policies as a catalyst to achieve the goal of creating a more equitable global society. The ideas presented in the articles will help shape the future of global scientific practices, cast light on the need for increased access to scientific knowledge, and push for the attainment of the sustainable development goals. Early-career scientists and engineers can have a meaningful role in the creation of innovative open science policies and their implementation. It is crucial to act on this now, seeing the clear need for increased sharing of scientific knowledge and collaboration across the globe,” Ona Ambrozaite and Barbara Del Castello, Co-Platform Coordinators, Science-Policy Interface, Major Group for Children and Youth (MGCY). 

The Special Topics Issue competition, judged by an external review committee, aims to provide winning authors of the top 3 publications with opportunities to present in UNESCO and MGCY events on open science. Information on the competition winners will be released at a later date. 

“The breadth of articles in this issue showcase the innovative ideas from the next generation in transforming both the practice of open science and applying principles of open science to address important societal problems,” said Adriana Bankston, JSPG CEO & Managing Publisher. “JSPG is proud to partner with UNESCO and MGCY on this special issue and we look forward to future collaborations showcasing early-career views in science policy.”

This Special Issue is supported in-kind by outreach partners from the Global Young Academy Open Science Working Group. 

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About JSPG
The Journal of Science Policy & Governance is a nonprofit organization and open-access peer-reviewed publication managed by and for students, policy fellows and young scholars in science, technology and innovation policy. JSPG publishes high-quality articles covering the widest range of topics in formats that are accessible to policymakers. Since 2011, JSPG has served as a vehicle for students and early career researchers to bolster their research and writing credentials in science policy. Visit sciencepolicyjournal.org and follow on Twitter @SciPolJournal to learn more.

About UNESCO
Created in 1945, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) builds peace by fostering international cooperation in education, the sciences and culture. As the only specialized United Nations agency with an explicit mandate for science, UNESCO promotes international scientific cooperation, helps developing countries to build their scientific and technological capacity and supports Member States’ efforts to develop effective, inclusive public policies. The Organization’s work extends to standard-setting in its fields of competence. One of these standard-setting instruments is the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science, adopted by 193 countries in November 2021. This Recommendation is the first international framework to provide guidelines on how to use open science to make science more equitable and inclusive. Visit https://en.unesco.org and follow on Twitter @UNESCO to learn more.​

About MGCY
The Major Group for Children and Youth is the UN General Assembly-mandated and self-organized mechanism for young people to meaningfully engage in certain UN processes. MGCY acts as a bridge between young people and the UN system in order to ensure that their right to meaningful participation is realized. MGCY does so by engaging formal and informal communities of young people, in the design, implementation, monitoring, follow-up, and review of sustainable development policies at all levels of the UN system. Visit https://www.unmgcy.org and follow on Twitter @UNMGCY to learn more. 

About the GYA Working Group on Open Science
Recognizing that open science fosters research communication that is inclusive, effective, and conducive to collaboration and discovery across fields and locations, the GYA working group on Open Science aims to inform current transformations in publication systems, institutions and technologies by (1) garnering and voicing young researchers’ views on which scientific outputs should be disseminated, how, to whom and with which expectations; (2) investigating the challenges and opportunities involved in implementing open science mandates across highly diverse research environments; (3) promoting open science mandates across the GYA membership and partner organizations. The Global Young Academy is an independent science academy of 200 outstanding early- to mid-career researchers from six continents who are selected from across disciplines based on their academic excellence and commitment to engage with society. The mission of the GYA is to give a voice to early-career researchers across the globe. Visit https://globalyoungacademy.net/activities/open-science/ and follow @GlobalYAcademy on Twitter to learn more.