A number of activities/projects are currently underway across SA to stimulate an environment towards open science, which encompasses open access to scholarly publications, open data, and open and collaborative research and infrastructural investments. These activities should be coordinated and developed in ways that enhance capacity and recognition at the level of individuals, institutions and national systems.
Some of these activities can be outlined as follow:
Open access scholarly journal publishing
Through the international SciELO initiative, ASSAf’s SPP indexes selected and approved high- quality open access journals, accredited by the DHET, and peer- reviewed by ASSAf panels (See Chapter 3). The SPP has recently started to utilise OJS and Open Monograph Press (OMP) to assist editors of high-quality journals and books in making the transition from print to open access and online. These initiatives also pursue new trends in technology to advocate for openness towards research results and recognition in its entirety, i.e. alternative metrics, ORCIDs and DOIs.
Other projects that are due to be implemented include the installation of an open access repository for open (including big) data sets, as well as the governance and hosting of DATAD-R, a harvester for open access theses, dissertations and research articles by African researchers and research institutions. ASSAf also publishes the SAJS as an open access journal.
African Open Science Platform
The Science International Accord on Open Data in a Big Data World presents an inclusive vision of the need for and the benefits of open data for science internationally, and in particular for lower and middle-income countries. A major outcome is the African Open Science Platform (AOSP initiative, supported by the South African DST, directed by CODATA and implemented by ASSAf.
The development of an open science and innovation platform depends not only on the physical infrastructure for acquiring, curating and disseminating data and information, but also on protocols, policies and procedures in the science system that provide the structure and support to ensure that science objectives are achieved.
Several open science activities are underway across Africa. Through the AOSP initiative, it is expected that a great deal will be gained if, in the context of developing inter-regional links, mechanisms for collaboration, exchange of good practice and coordination can be established.
The governance of the platform is through:
1. A high level, representative Advisory Council to advise on the trajectory and priorities of the platform and the development of common, platform-wide priorities from national objectives and needs.
2. A Technical Advisory Group to advise on technical priorities and processes, comprising both regional and non-African experts.
3. Management of processes will be in the hands of a Platform Office located in ASSAf, coordinated with the International Science Council/ The Committee on Data Science for Science and Technology (ISC/CODATA) Office in Paris.
National Research Foundation Open Access Statement
The South African NRF has recognised the importance of open access to enhancing the dissemination of knowledge and the facilitation of research activities, while at the same time recognising that it will continue to evolve in response to the needs of practitioners, and the development of new innovative publishing business models. The NRF has published a policy (statement) on open access dissemination of research funded with public money. Since 1 March 2015, authors of research papers generated from research either fully or partially funded by NRF – when submitting and publishing in scholarly journals – should deposit their final peer-reviewed manuscripts that have been accepted by the journals, to the administering institutional repository with an embargo period of no more than 12 months. Earlier open access may be provided should this be allowed by the publishers. If the paper is published in an open access journal or the publisher allows the deposit of the published version in PDF format, such version should be deposited into the administering institutional repository and open access should be provided as soon as possible. Currently almost all South African research- intensive universities and research councils have institutional repositories, but only four institutions have an open access policy. The NRF policy further requires that
– in addition to the final publication – data supporting the publication should be deposited in an accredited open access repository, with the provision of a DOI for future citation and referencing.
Adoption of open access by universities and research councils
Open access to publications is supported by universities and research councils through either Gold, Green or both forms of open access. In many of these institutions it remains essentially a bottom-up approach, driven by stakeholders such as research institutes, funders, and libraries. As indicated earlier, currently only four South African research institutions have an open access policy. Therefore, mostly soft measures have been implemented to promote open access. In particular, the proposed transition to full-scale Gold open access, has received considerable attention, but questions regarding the feasibility of this route remain to be answered. Open access to research data is even less developed across these institutions than open access to research publications, with a few institutions and isolated researchers proactively driving the debate forward. The constraints on implementation relate to scholarly cultures, lack of awareness of the benefits of open access, costs of repositories/publishing journals and clear leadership on these matters from executive management.
Data-intensive research initiatives
The Western Cape consortium of institutions, led by the University of Cape Town (UCT), is to establish a Western Cape Data-intensive Research Facility (DIRF), as part of the DST’s National Integrated Cyberinfrastructure System (NICIS). The consortium includes the University of the Western Cape (UWC), the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), SU, the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) SA project, and the new Sol Plaatjie University (SPU) in the Northern Cape, close to the location of the MeerKAT telescope and the site for the SKA. This consortium will establish and operate a data-centric high-performance computing facility for data-intensive research focused primarily on the high-priority research challenges of astronomy (with particular focus on the SKA project) and bioinformatics and related clinical research.
In early 2017, the South African DST started the process of drafting a new White Paper on Science and Technology. This White Paper will guide the strategic direction of the South African System for Research and Innovation for the next decade. The country needs to be a leading African knowledge provider of 21st century technology and 21st century thinking, utilising 21st century skills.
Against this backdrop, the new White Paper addresses policy options in respect of developing a South African integrated digital strategy that would define the key enabling role that information communications technology (ICTs) would play in order for the country to respond favourably to the requirements of the fourth industrial revolution, regional transformation and a digital society. To achieve this a national digital policy should be introduced to regulate research data sharing and access, its integrity, privacy and intellectual property (IP).
An inclusive stakeholder workshop was held (December 2016) by ASSAf and sponsored by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) to develop a set of recommendations on research data sharing/open science for consideration by the authors of the White Paper. The topic of these discussions was open science, which encompasses open access to scholarly publications, open data, and open and collaborative research, all essentially related to the broad dissemination of knowledge. The workshop provided the sector with an opportunity to think collectively and offer advice on moving the system forward to achieve the objectives of national digital policies. Results from the workshop are being integrated into a Position Statement on Open Science for South Africa.
Against the backdrop of the position statement it is therefore an opportune time to begin work on developing legislation that will codify the requirements and standards for open access in South Africa. Over the last decade, SA has increased its participation in global projects and begun to consider the implications of the explosion in big data. Hence, it becomes necessary for the country to have an open science policy in place to derive the maximum benefit from the internationalisation of its research programmes.
It is in this regard that the DST, with input from ASSAf, has approached the European Union (EU) through their bilateral agreement and dialogue facility to share open science policy interventions and experiences. This opportunity will create opportunities for policy learning between SA and the EU, and will also assist the scientific community and government to identify interventions, that could create an enabling environment to support open science partnerships between South African and EU scientists and the public sector.
A two-day workshop was accordingly held at the end of 2017. The outcome of the dialogue was a framework outlining challenges and gaps that require policy intervention, as well as suggestions of the possible policy interventions that would be necessary to institutionalise open science.