Maturity evaluation 2019: Research organizations are increasingly open in their operations

The Ministry of Education and Culture commissioned an evaluation on the level of openness in the operating culture of various research organizations. The results of the evaluation show that research organizations are increasingly open in their operations.

Nine universities and seven universities of applied sciences have already reached the highest maturity level. The Academy of Finland too is at the top level. The same organizations have also ranked well in the previous evaluations and have used the previous results as input for further efforts on developing the skills required by openness. The first maturity evaluation took place in 2015.

The purpose of the evaluation was to see where higher education institutions, research institutions, research funders, scientific institutes operating abroad and the scientific community stand in promoting open science and research. The evaluation also identified obstacles, strengths and weaknesses in the promotion of openness as well as areas that should be developed further.

The maturity level of open science and research can be seen in policies and principles of open access and use, utilization of open source code and standards, high-quality documentation of research processes and efforts to increase the expertise associated with openness.

The authors of the evaluation Atlas of Open Science and Research in Finland 2019 are Pirjo-Leena Forsström (CSC), Erika Lilja (University of Turku) and Minna Ala-Mantila (CSC).

Press release of the Ministry of Education and Culture: Tutkimusorganisaatiot toimivat aiempaa avoimemmin (in Finnish).

For background materials of the evaluation, see avointiede.fi.