CERN, the renowned European particle-physics laboratory, is setting a new benchmark for scientific publishing by offering financial incentives to encourage academic publishers to embrace open science policies. This initiative underscores CERN’s commitment to fostering transparency, accessibility, and collaboration in the global scientific community.

What Is Open Science?

Open science is an approach to research that prioritizes accessibility and transparency. It emphasizes the sharing of research outputs—such as data, methodologies, and publications—with minimal restrictions. The aim is to democratize knowledge, enabling researchers, institutions, and the public to engage with and benefit from scientific advancements.

CERN’s Current Publishing Model

CERN already collaborates with 11 particle-physics journals, ensuring that researchers can publish their work at no cost. This is achieved through bulk payments made by CERN to these publishers, covering publication fees and eliminating barriers for authors.

The New Incentive Scheme

Under the new initiative, CERN will adjust its payment structure to reward publishers who adopt open science practices. This includes:

• Public Peer Review: Making the peer-review process transparent, allowing readers to understand how the research was evaluated.
• Data Set Linkage: Ensuring published research is connected to its underlying data, enhancing reproducibility and facilitating further study.

Publishers with robust open science policies will receive higher payments from CERN than those that do not adopt these practices.

The Rationale Behind the Initiative

Kamran Naim, CERN’s head of open science, highlights the unique nature of particle physics: “Particle physics is large, international, highly complex, highly dynamic. Openness is the only really effective way of practising science in the discipline.”

In particle physics, research often involves vast datasets, intricate methodologies, and international collaboration. Open science principles are essential to ensure that these resources are accessible and usable across the global research community.

The Broader Impact on Scientific Publishing

CERN’s decision to incentivize open science policies may set a precedent for other institutions and disciplines. By financially rewarding transparency and accessibility, CERN is challenging traditional publishing models and encouraging a shift toward practices that prioritize the public good.

Potential Benefits:

• Enhanced Collaboration: Open access to data and methodologies fosters greater collaboration among researchers.
• Increased Reproducibility: Linking publications to datasets ensures that experiments can be replicated and verified.
• Public Engagement: Transparent peer review and open access allow the public to engage with and trust scientific research.

Challenges to Adoption:

While many publishers support open science in principle, transitioning to these models may involve additional costs and logistical adjustments. CERN’s financial incentives aim to offset some of these challenges and accelerate the transition.

Conclusion

CERN’s innovative approach to incentivizing open science reflects its leadership in promoting transparency and collaboration in research. By aligning financial rewards with open policies, CERN is paving the way for a more accessible and equitable scientific publishing landscape. This initiative not only benefits the field of particle physics but also serves as a model for other disciplines to follow, ensuring that science continues to thrive as a global, collaborative endeavor.