Open Science practices in a Portuguese nursing higher education institution: An exploratory, descriptive study

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Open Science Practices
• Knowledge Sharing

Background:

• Open Science promotes knowledge access, collaboration, innovation, and transparency.
• Studies on Open Science adoption are limited, especially in nursing academia.
• This research addresses the gap by examining Open Science in a Portuguese nursing institution.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify current Open Science practices among faculty, researchers, and students in a Portuguese higher nursing education institution.
• To assess the level of awareness and adoption of various Open Science principles and tools.
• To pinpoint areas for training and institutional development related to Open Science.

Main Methods:

• An exploratory, descriptive study using a two-phase approach.
• Questionnaire adaptation and piloting via focus group.
• Digital distribution of a 34-question survey to 747 individuals, with 35 respondents.

Main Results:

• High engagement with Open Science publications (77.8%), but low familiarity with preregistration and open-source coding.
• Strong acceptance of Open Science principles (ethics, democratization, collaboration).
• Underutilization of platforms like Zenodo and OpenUP Hub, despite frequent use of databases (EBSCOhost, Scopus).

Conclusions:

• Significant gap exists between accepting Open Science principles and implementing its practices in nursing academia.
• Low response rate suggests limited awareness and institutional embedding of Open Science.
• Urgent need for targeted training and awareness campaigns to foster Open Science adoption in nursing education.