Open science: meta-research shows the way, open science communities walk the walk

Despite the increasing availability of Open Science (OS) infrastructure and the rise in policies to change behaviour, OS practices are not yet the norm. While pioneering researchers are developing OS practices, the majority sticks to the status quo. To transition to common practice, we must engage a critical proportion of the academic community. In this transition, OS Communities (OSCs) play a key role. OSCs are bottom-up learning groups of scholars that discuss OS within and across disciplines. They make OS knowledge more accessible and facilitate communication among scholars and policymakers. Over the past two years, twelve OSCs were founded at all Dutch university cities. In other countries, similar OSCs are starting up (Sweden, Serbia, Ireland, Saudi-Arabia).
In this talk, we will make the case for the pivotal role OSCs play in the large-scale transition to OS and that meta-research provides the much-needed context which guides activities in OSCs. At the same time, we believe that OSCs provide a suitable platform for disseminating meta-research findings. Finally, we emphasize that despite the grassroot character of OSCs, support from universities is critical for OSCs to be viable, effective, and sustainable.