Open Science (CA0068)

5. Open science
Issue to be addressed
Public access to science conducted or collected by the federal government has great potential
value, but government-funded science is sometimes hard to access. This is because it is not
open, easy to find, or communicated in a way that resonates with Canadians. Many Canadians
also do not know how to find information about federal scientists who are working on issues of
interest to them.
Commitment
The Government of Canada will make federal science, scientific data, and scientists more
accessible. We will:
• develop a Canada Open Science Roadmap to provide a plan for greater openness in
federal science and research activities
• provide a platform for Canadians to find and access open access publications from
federal scientists
• raise public awareness of federal scientists’ work and of open science
• promote open science and solicit feedback on stakeholder needs
• measure progress in implementing open science and the benefits it can provide
Lead department(s)
Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC); National Research Council Canada (NRC);
Office of the Chief Science Advisor; Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS); other
science-based departments and agencies (SBDAs)
Milestones
What will we do? How we will know we succeeded? What is our
deadline?
5.1 Develop an Open Science
Roadmap for the Government
of Canada
(Office of the Chief Science
Advisor, with support from
SBDAs)
A Canada open science roadmap is
developed to provide a plan for greater
openness in federal science and research
activities. It is shared with the
science-based departments and agencies
(SBDAs)
July 2019
Science-based departments and agencies
(SBDAs) have released their action plans
March 2020
29
What will we do? How we will know we succeeded? What is our
deadline?
in keeping with the Canada open science
roadmap
5.2 Pilot an open science portal
to provide access to open
access publications from
federal scientists
(NRC, Office of the Chief
Science Advisor; and TBS, with
support from SBDAs)
A roadmap for the future of the Canadian
Federal Science Repository prototype is
published, including post-pilot next steps
August 2019
A pilot portal for open access federal
science publications is launched
March 2020
Report on options for integrating
federally funded open science into the
pilot portal
June 2020
5.3 Launch a platform allowing
Canadians to more easily:
• find National Research
Council science
professionals
• find and access
publications and pre-prints
they have published
• understand what they are
working on
• connect with them via
social media networks
(NRC)
An online, searchable directory of NRC
scientists that other departments can join
is in operation by fiscal year 2019 to 2020
March 2020
The platform leverages existing digital
identification systems, such as ORCID iD
March 2020
Options are explored to link the NRC
directory to the existing Government of
Canada directory, which is led by
Innovation, Science and Economic
Development Canada
May 2020
5.4 Promote open science and
actively solicit feedback from
stakeholders and federal
scientists on their needs with
respect to open data and open
science
(ECCC)
10 open science engagement sessions
held with federal scientists and invited
stakeholders across Canada
5 by June 2019
10 by June 2020
A report on identified user needs is
published and used to inform ongoing
and future open science efforts
June 2020
5.5 Measure the Government
of Canada’s progress in
implementing open science,
Indicators for measuring the benefits of
open science for Canadians are
developed and published
June 2019
30
What will we do? How we will know we succeeded? What is our
deadline?
and the benefits open science
can provide to Canadians
(ECCC, with support from
SBDAs)
Indicators report on the benefits of open
science for Canadians is published
June 2020
Yearly reporting on progress against
existing metrics measuring
implementation of open science by
SBDAs.
Reports released
in June 2019 and
June 2020

Design Report

5. Open Science

The Government of Canada will make federal science, scientific data, and scientists more accessible. We will:

• develop a Canada Open Science Roadmap to provide a plan for greater openness in federal science and research activities
• provide a platform for Canadians to find and access open access publications from federal scientists
• raise public awareness of federal scientists’ work and of open science
• promote open science and solicit feedback on stakeholder needs
• measure progress in implementing open science and the benefits it can provide

Milestones

5.1 Develop an Open Science Roadmap for the Government of Canada (Office of the Chief Science Advisor, with support from other science-based departments and agencies)

5.2 Pilot an open science portal to provide access to open access publications from federal scientists (National Research Council Canada, Office of the Chief Science Advisor, and Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, with support from other science-based departments and agencies)

5.3 Launch a platform allowing Canadians to more easily:

• find National Research Council science professionals
• find and access publications and pre-prints they have published
• understand what they are working on
• connect with them via social media networks

(National Research Council Canada)

5.4 Promote open science and actively solicit feedback from stakeholders and federal scientists on their needs with respect to open data and open science (Environment and Climate Change Canada)

5.5 Measure the Government of Canada’s progress in implementing open science, and the benefits open science can provide to Canadians (Environment and Climate Change Canada, with support from other science-based departments and agencies)

For more details about the commitment text, milestones, self-identified success criteria, and estimated completion dates see, https://open.canada.ca/en/content/canadas-2018-2020-national-action-plan-open-government#toc3-4

Start Date: August 2019

End Date: Varies according to milestone

Context and Objectives

Commitments on open science have been present in Canada’s last three action plans. The current commitment carries forward the open science initiatives of Commitment 14 [31] from Canada’s third action plan that marked a shift away from applying restrictive communication policies on federal government scientists. [32] As written, the commitment is built around a proposed course – making “federal science, scientific data, and scientists more accessible” – but offers no indication of the state of affairs prior to the commitment’s launch or the targeted change that is meant to emerge from its implementation. According to representatives from Environment and Climate Change Canada, Commitment 5 emerges from:

(i) an observation that shifts in the conducting of national science were not well reflected across government, and that many of Canada’s peers were ahead of it on this front; and

(ii) a political drive to make science available to, and better communicated with, the Canadian public.

It must also be noted that the science the commitment speaks of making more accessible is that which is conducted within federal departments; it does not include science and research that is federally funded through Canada’s three major research granting councils. [33]

The commitment aligns with the OGP values of Access to Information, and Technology and Innovation. The extent to which the five milestones align with OGP values, however, is mixed. Milestones 5.2 and 5.3 are relevant to the OGP values of Access to Information, and Technology and Innovation with both involving the creation of online platforms to facilitate the public release of information about federal scientists was well as their scientific publications. The extent to which the engagement mentioned in Milestone 5.4 pertains to augmenting civic participation is unclear. The wording used in both the milestone and its associated success criterion is ambiguous.

Milestone 5.1 was a late addition to the action plan. It was not included in the draft commitment on open science released for public comment in July-August 2018, nor was the MSF consulted about its addition to the commitment. [34] The open science roadmap initiative was launched earlier in 2018 by the Office of the Chief Science Advisor. Working with senior leaders from federal science-based departments and agencies and with three funding councils, the aim is to create a guidelines for ensuring that government science is accessible to the public, reversing the effects of earlier government policies restricting the ability of government scientists to speak publicly about their research and science, [35] and to assist Canadian researchers in keeping step with the global open science movement. [36] The development of a reference tool to facilitate the role out of open science within the Government Canada is an important undertaking. However, given that it is a tool principally designed for internal government use, the extent to which the exercise set out in milestone 5.1 aligns to OGP values is less clear. The same conclusion applies to milestone 5.5. Although measuring the progress of the Government of Canada in implementing open science is both a worthwhile and necessary undertaking in terms of assessing the impact of the GoC’s open science initiatives on the public good, it is unclear how measuring progress, as a stand-alone milestone, aligns with any of the four OGP values.

The milestones are all sufficiently specific so as to be easily verifiable insofar as either the proposed activities take place, or they do not.

The transformative step of opening science in Canada took place under the auspices of Commitment 14 in the third action plan. The current government’s work in opening science marks a notable continuation of efforts aimed at changing the culture in which federal scientists operate. These efforts are making positive incremental step in this policy area. As such, Commitment 5 is deemed as having a minor potential impact on open government in Canada.

Next steps

The implementation of Commitment 5 will contribute to the GoC’s ongoing efforts at making information about federal science activities and outputs, was well as federal scientists, more accessible to Canadians. What is unclear, and will likely remain so for some time, is the types of dividends arising from its implementation. Science is being made more accessible to Canadians but the matters of which Canadians, and the extent to which Canadians will avail themselves of emergent open science resources, is less clear. Equally ambiguous is how, and the degree to which, the existing commitment actually enables citizens to engage with government in terms of influencing decision-making in this domain.

In moving forward, three important facets of open science related decision-making requiring on-going consideration will include:

(i) Determining who are the intended audiences for these resources because the demands and resource needs of intended beneficiaries vary significantly – e.g., the types of information and resources most useful to experts differ from those needed for non-experts. Resource demands and needs across scientific disciplines are likewise highly variable;

(ii) Determining what is the optimal allocation of resources for ensuring open science is contributing to the public good in a context wherein the most effective mechanisms for moving forward with transparency, accountability, and citizen participation vary within and across the natural sciences and engineering, social sciences and humanities, and health sciences;

(iii) Identifying the most effective mechanisms and channels for ensuring open science is having a demonstrable impact on the public good.

(iv) Developing appropriate communication and messaging strategies for science-based departments as government science becomes more open. To date the GoC’s approach to open science has been anchored in informing Canadians about what federal scientists know. However, and as noted by Scott Findlay, Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Ottawa and Researcher in Residence at the federal Office of the Chief Science Advisor, if a principal objective of open science is to contribute to creating an informed citizenry, it is equally important for Canadians to understand what federal scientists do not know. This has direct implications for communicating knowledge gaps and enhancing science literacy.

The IRM researcher recommends carrying forward the open science commitment, albeit with a more challenge/issue/problem specific focus. This might, for example, involve a commitment focusing specifically on one or more of the challenges of climate change or microplastic pollution that brings to bare the tools and processes of open science and open data to assist both in tackling pre-identified knowledge gaps and in supporting policy-making relating to these multidimensional issues.

Transitional Results Report

Commitment 5. Open Science

Completion: Substantial

This commitment carried forward the open science initiatives of commitment 14 from Canada’s third action plan. [58] It was built around a proposed course of action—making “federal science, scientific data, and scientists more accessible”—but offered no indication of the targeted change that was meant to emerge from its implementation. It must also be noted that the ‘science’ that is meant to be made accessible is constrained to that which is conducted in federal departments. It does not include science and research that is federally funded through Canada’s three major research granting councils. [59]

As per the information reported at the National Action Plan Open Government Tracker, one of the five milestones comprising this commitment was completed (milestone 5.2), with substantial progress reported for the other four. [60]

In terms of milestone 5.2, as of September 2020, the National Research Council Canada (NRC) had completed its piloting and prototyping activities for an open science portal, [61] and had started collaborating with other science-based departments as well as TBS to determine next steps.

Substantial progress was made towards the launch of a platform to find NRC science professionals and their work as specified in milestone 5.3. However, this initiative was placed on hold due to a reprioritization in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. NRC-authored publications remained accessible through the NRC Publications Archive which provides author-based search functionality. [62]

In December 2019, the Office of the Chief Science Advisor of Canada completed and shared with science-based departments and agencies (SBDA) the Roadmap for Open Science (milestone 5.1). The roadmap was released in February 2020 and contained ten recommendations that include: conducting consultations to develop departmental and agency open science action plans, making federal science articles openly accessible, and advancing open science data. [63] As of September 2021, departmental open science action plans were developed, approved, and published. [64]

In terms of milestone 5.4, by June 2019, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) had held five out of ten engagements sessions with federal scientists and invited stakeholders across Canada. These meetings included an open science session at the 2019 OGP Global Summit, presentations for youth, virtual discussion tables, and external and internal surveys on open science. In the same month, preliminary findings from two of the sessions were presented for feedback at the International Public Policy Association’s 2019 conference. [65] By March 2021, all ten engagement sessions had been conducted, and the findings emerging from them had been compiled into a report, that, according to information reported at the National Action Plan Open Government Tracker, was under review by senior management. [66]

In August 2019, ECCC published a list of potential open science indicators for measuring the benefit of open science for Canadians (milestone 5.5). These include the citation advantage for open access federal peer-reviewed publications, patent uptake for federal peer-reviewed publications, number of SBDA datasets downloaded, and altmetrics that capture the online visibility of knowledge products. [67]

In September 2019, the Federal Progress Implementing Open Science: 2019 Annual Report was published and a list of potential open science indicators for measuring the benefits of open science was released a few months later. [68] This list was subsequently integrated into the 2020 Annual Report on the Federal Progress in Implementing Open Science and its Benefits. [69] As of March 2021, a draft of the report was under review.