July 29, 2019 Report Open Access

Open Science in Switzerland: Opportunities and Challenges

Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences; Pfister Roger; Lauer Gerhard; Agosti Donat; Appenzeller Claudia; Girardclos Stéphanie; Hürlimann Daniel; Immenhauser Beat; Kasparian Jérôme; Lebrand Cécile; Schneider Gabi; Yilmaz Aysim

Open Science stands for a new approach to the scientific process, based on cooperative work and new ways of making knowledge available. It is thus an umbrella term for various movements aiming to remove the barriers to sharing any kind of output, resources, methods or tools, at any stage of the research process. Here, we focus on the open access to scientific literature and to data because of their particularly high relevance to the scientific community in Switzerland, at which this factsheet is primarily addressed. Both topics are also important science policy topics in different parts of the world, but the developments in Europe are most pertinent for Switzerland. This factsheet therefore presents the issues at stake in the on-going discussion in Europe and Switzerland, pointing out opportunities and addressing the challenges. The recommendations are guided by the key consideration to shape Open Access and Open Data so that they foster scientific progress and benefit society.