Development and preliminary validation of an open access, open data and open outreach indicator

Area of Science:

• Bibliometrics and Scientometrics
• Research Assessment
• Open Science Practices

Background:

• Measuring researcher engagement with open science principles is crucial for institutional strategy.
• Existing metrics may not fully capture the multifaceted nature of open research practices.
• There is a need for a comprehensive indicator tailored to research information management systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a new person-centered indicator, OADO (Open Access, Open Data, Open Outreach).
• To assess the degree of open access articles, open data, and open outreach in research and communication activities.
• To customize and implement the OADO indicator within Elsevier's Pure Research Information Management System.

Main Methods:

• Development of the OADO indicator with two factors: research and communication.
• Calculation of the Weighted-OADO for 995 researchers across five faculties at the University of Southern Denmark using Pure publication records.
• Validation checks included definition validity, actionability, transferability, factor independence, normality, and reliability.

Main Results:

• The OADO indicator demonstrated reliability for departments with normally distributed Weighted-OADO values.
• Only two departments (health sciences and engineering) met the normality assumption.
• The indicator can still guide efforts toward openness and incentivize detailed data registration even when normality is not met.

Conclusions:

• The OADO indicator provides a framework for assessing and promoting open science practices.
• It offers actionable insights for institutions to enhance research transparency and data management.
• Further validation and implementation across diverse institutions are recommended for broader applicability.