Navigating Open Science as Early Career Feminist Researchers

Abstract

Open Science aims to improve the rigour, robustness, and reproducibility of psychological research. Despite resistance from some academics, the Open Science movement has been championed by some Early Career Researchers (ECRs), who have proposed innovative new tools and methods to promote and employ open research principles. Feminist ECRs have much to contribute to this emerging way of doing research. However, they face unique barriers, which may prohibit their full engagement with the Open Science movement. We, ten feminist ECRs in psychology, from a diverse range of academic and personal backgrounds, explore Open Science through a feminist lens, to consider how voice and power may be negotiated in unique ways for ECRs. Taking a critical and intersectional approach, we discuss how feminist early career research may be complemented or challenged by shifts towards Open Science. We also propose how ECRs can act as grassroots changemakers within the context of academic precarity. We identify ways in which Open Science can benefit from feminist epistemology and end with six practical recommendations for feminist ECRs who wish to engage with Open Science practices in their own research.

Legacy of Jon Tennant, “Open science is just good science”

“…We have this prestige-based economy where your worth as a researcher is based on the commercial brands dictated by corporate values which you elect to publish in for whatever reason. There are various biases in this, for example if you are a minority researcher, woman or early career researcher then you are incredibly biased against from the outset (Dion, Sumner, and Mitchell 2018; Lerback and Hanson 2017;Pownall et al 2020;West et al 2013)[2]. As we all know, researchers write, review, and edit the papers; so they generate around 95% of the real value behind scholarly communication.…”

Embedding open and reproducible science into teaching: A bank of lesson plans and resources.

“…Open scholarship has prompted a fundamental reappraisal of how we 'do' research, by stressing the importance of a culture that fosters inclusion, representation, and respect (FORRT, 2019;Hillyer et al, 2017;Nosek et al, 2015;Parsons et al, 2021;Pownall et al, 2021). However, despite the clear pedagogical benefits of embedding an open and reproducible approach to teaching, the implementation of any new approach often requires considerable time and resources to implement.…”

Improving the Credibility of Empirical Legal Research: Practical Suggestions for Researchers, Journals and Law Schools

“…However, policies that place weight on transparency in hiring should consider barriers to taking up such practices. 150 Precedents are available to assist institutions seeking to change their hiring practices. The Center for Open Science maintains a list of job listings that refer to research practices.…”