Send message to Author

Long abstract:

The contribution presents the practice of open notebook science, conceived by Jean-Claude Bradley, a Chemistry professor and researcher at Drexel University in, who aimed to promote a vigorous debate on open collaboration, deal with the false appearance of infallibility in science and the harmful effects of the “model based on trust” – to be replaced by transparency and the preservation of data provenance. The author acknowledged the problematic aspects of scientific practice, referring cases of fraud, plagiarism and corruption, but he invested on what he considers the system's structural faults: the concepts of “reliable source”, the excessive confidence between peers and the notion of “scientific fact”. When he stated that “There are no facts in science, just evidences embedded in assumptions” (Bradley, 2008), he rejected the founding concept of Modern Science because he understood that, at best, measurements and experiments results can only be used as evidences, never as unchallengeable facts.

Given its characteristics, we points out that open notebook science engenders a new epistemic culture that is not based on the construction of “matter of facts”, but in we have called “matter of proof”. It values the meticulous documentation of scientific practice above the making of scientific facts. It also favours the virtualization of “testers” since it is an open collaboration/curation platform where peers can question descriptions and results, point out omissions, suggest other ways of elaboration, repeat the experiment, suggest alterations, rectifications, and future developments. It may provide feedback and renew scientific research continuously.