Open Science Resource: an online course in open science

Open science is part of responsible science and research. However, open science demands skills as well as change in the operating culture of the research community. These skills are new to many researchers, and a more open research culture may be unfamiliar. The online course Open Science (https://findocnet.fi/) provides researchers with an introduction to ways in which science can be carried out more openly and to learning open science skills. The course was created in collaboration between all Finland’s PhD institutions, the Ministry of Education and Culture and the Federation of Finnish Learned Societies in 2016–2017. The course is intended for researchers looking to carry out science more openly in their own research community.

The Open Science course covers the following areas of open science:

• What is open science and why is it important?
• Open access and different forms of open access
• How to choose the best means of open access
• Predatory publications and how to avoid them
• More open peer review
• Using data management to widen data access
• Alternatives for storing open material
• Legal questions regarding open materials
• The researcher’s view of data protection and licensing
• Research collaboration
• Citizen science
• Science communication
• How to make the research process more open

The course is openly available for self-study, and universities use the course also in their own training. Participants can log into the platform using their HAKA login.

The course is updated and maintained by the University of Helsinki.

_{Further information:}

_{The Open Science course online: https://findocnet.fi/?lang=en}