PathOS - D3.1 Case studies for evaluation of open science impact

PathOS is a Horizon Europe project aiming to gather concrete evidence of the impacts of Open Science (OS). It seeks to understand the progression from input to output, outcome, and eventual impact, taking into account both enabling factors and critical barriers. Recognizing and comprehending OS pathways is vital not only to estimate and measure the effects of a policy intervention but also to elucidate why and how these impacts arise.

PathOS centres its activities around six targeted case studies that will (a) drive the modelling of the pathways with all relevant elements of OS which can be measured both in terms of indicators for input and costs, and by making their connections, (b) support testing and operationalization of OS indicators (tools, data, flows) by providing access to data and experts who bring knowledge of the local environment, and (c) provide input to the Cost Benefit Analysis and to validate project results. The foci of the case studies include: 1. accelerating collaborations within academia & industry in Portugal; 2. research data and knowledge use outside of academia in France; 3. cross cutting effects due to Open Research data from a National Repository in the Netherlands; 4. Emerging topics fostered by Open Science with a focus on gender in AI and climate innovations; 5. Open Science practices during the COVID-19 pandemic within Horizon 2020 projects; and 6. Innovation from Open Research resources provided by ELIXIR.

The purpose of this deliverable is to report on the status to date of the case studies, about one-third of the way into the project's duration. This report includes a chapter dedicated to each case study which describes the development of the case studies in terms of research questions, causality narrative and impact pathway logic, discussion of enabling factors and barriers, research methods, and immediate next steps. As co-creation with expert stakeholders is a core practice of PathOS, the cases that have hosted focus groups to date (3 out of 6) report on how the insights gained have contributed to the development of the case study and supported the project's development of impact pathway models and impact indicators.

Together, these case studies focus on identifying impacts from four key Open Science aspects: Open Access publishing, Open/FAIR Data, Open-Source Code, and Open Materials. Cumulatively, the case studies cover government/policy mandates and government-sponsored portals/repositories, and the short-term impacts they aim to measure include academic citation advantage (from Open Access and Open Data), data reuse, and collaborations; the economic impacts of academic-industry collaborations and the industry use of Open Science resources; and the societal impacts of the use of OS resources by various societal actors (policymakers, media, civil society organisations, healthcare providers, etc.).

*This project deliverable is currently pending approval by the EC.