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Short abstract:

EU Open Science (OS) policies are currently implemented nationally and locally. Three dimensions of openness are conceptualised (as democratisation, institutional response, for pluralism). Now it’s vital to consider all dimensions and principles identified to ensure OS aligns with democratic values.

Long abstract:

Currently, we are experiencing a crucial moment in the development of Open Science (OS) policies in the EU: European OS policies are being implemented both at national level (i.e., Member States) and at local level (i.e., universities and research centres) (Paseri 2022). Insofar as OS is emphasized by institutions, the philosophy of law can guide in understanding the new context and provide a blueprint for change. Therefore, this contribution proposes three senses of the concept of openness:

(i) Openness as the democratisation of knowledge fostered by new digital technologies, which emerged between the late 1990s and the beginning of the new Century, resulting in the principles of access and collaboration.

(ii) Openness as an institutional response to the demands of the various actors, public and private, which emerged around 2015, conveying the principles of transparency, integrity and sharing.

(iii) Finally, openness for pluralism, a fundamental dimension that complements the previous ones, introducing the principle of epistemic equality (Fricker, 2007) and inclusiveness in OS (Leonelli, 2023). If the first two meanings of openness describe the evolution of the phenomenon, the third dimension is prescriptive and is the one we need to focus on in this complex current context.

The contribution argues that in the current phase of development of OS policies, it is essential to consider all three dimensions of openness identified and especially the entire set of principles (i.e., access, collaboration, transparency, integrity, sharing, epistemic equality, inclusiveness) to ensure OS in a deliberative, participatory, pluralist, and inclusive democracy (Landemore, 2020).