Transparency in Open Science: An Actionable Principle?

Abstract

This review discusses the concept of transparency as a cornerstone for the open science (OS) paradigm and the open access movement. To this regard, the contribution presents a review of official positions of supra-national bodies regarding OS and transparent research ontologies and contrasts them with convergent elements in scholarly works assessing distinct aspects of openness and transparency in research systems. As seen in the literature, transparency defines most policy and declarative approaches for greater access and academic accountability, yet the concept is rarely defined or operatively characterised. Hence, the text discusses a framing of transparency to accompany and better understand its guiding role in the OS and open innovation systems and presents the example of open peer review as a paradigmatic case. Final remarks are presented in order to indicate potential avenues of research, as well as areas of scholarly incidence to expand and deepen the reach of transparency-oriented academic and scientific practices.