Published October 6, 2025 | Version 1
Journal article Open

Ethical Challenges and Opportunities at the Intersection of One Health and Open Science in India: A Scoping Review

  • 1. Tutor, Centre for Ethics, Yenepoya (Deemed to be University), Mangalore, India
  • 2. Professor, Centre for Medical Ethics, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
  • 3. Professor, Department of Ophthalmology; Faculty, Centre for Ethics, Yenepoya (Deemed to be University), Mangaluru, Karnataka, India
  • 4. Associate Professor, Department of Nursing and Health Promotion, Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway

Description

Open Science (OS) aims to make scientific research accessible to everyone by making data and research processes transparent and easily available. This way, even the citizens can understand and use scientific information. OS practices also allow researchers to share their findings early on, which can inspire new ideas and collaborations, and when combined with citizen science, it has the potential to transform how we approach the One Health (OH) concept. OH is a unified approach that aims to balance the health of human beings, animals and the environment. It requires the collaboration of multiple stakeholders including epidemiologists, veterinarians, environmental scientists, and policymakers. But the road to the OH framework is riddled with challenges, such as a lack of policies and institutional capacities.

We conducted a scoping review aimed at exploring the challenges and opportunities in OH research in the realm of OS in India. The review was carried out over eight months (October 2023 to May 2024). We searched multiple databases like PubMed and Web of Science to identify relevant studies, and screened articles using Covidence, a web-based tool.

Our findings are grouped into two main themes: challenges and opportunities in implementing OH within OS. We identified several challenges at both institutional and national levels, including issues in collaboration, data sharing, and engaging veterinarians and citizen scientists. Understanding these challenges and opportunities is crucial for promoting effective collaboration and improving health outcomes in India and other low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

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