Open principles reaffirm Digital Science’s commitment to open research

Tuesday 16 April 2024

Digital Science has today launched its Open Principles, a new initiative that commits its research information solutions to open science now and into the future.

The Principles are the first step in Digital Science’s journey to align more closely with the Barcelona Declaration on Open Research Information from a global research consortium headed by Leiden University, announced earlier today. They are also a concrete articulation of Digital Science’s long-held, core vision of a trusted, frictionless, collaborative research ecosystem that drives progress for all. 

Open research practices, and the development of open science tools and solutions, have been at the heart of Digital Science since its inception:

• When Symplectic began over 20 years ago, it reported on all research outputs, including open access articles and preprints
• One of Digital Science’s earliest investments, Figshare, has provided an open data repository for researchers for over a decade
• Since its launch in 2018, Dimensions has had a free web app enabling users to search its industry-leading database of publications and to understand the full context of those publications. This free service has been enhanced in 2024 with the addition of summarization features in the free app, as well as the release of Dimensions Researcher GPT which is freely accessible with ChatGPT Plus 
• Altmetric also has a range of free options for researchers, including badges and bookmarklets.

Commenting on the Barcelona Declaration – which calls on universities to utilize open research resources – Digital Science CEO Dr Daniel Hook says the company has always believed that research is the single most transformational force for the long-term improvement of society, and today’s announcement represents another step on that path.

“Digital Science welcomes the Barcelona Declaration and the global initiative to support open research,” Dr Hook says.

“Open research principles are part of our company’s DNA and they are always something we’re striving towards. When developing our technology, we prioritize open research and tools to make research easier to access. Our company was founded by researchers to help make the research mission easier, better, more open and more globally linked.

“Our new Open Principles are aligned with many of the issues highlighted in the Barcelona Declaration. They are a first step in reaffirming Digital Science’s commitment to open research and will guide our journey toward closer alignment with the community that we serve,” Dr Hook says.

The Principles have been developed by Digital Science’s VP of Open Research and Figshare founder, Dr Mark Hahnel, who believes the Barcelona Declaration will be transformative for researchers and institutions.

“I have always felt lucky to work at Digital Science, as it was formed at a time when the research world was desperate for openness and innovation. At Digital Science, we believe that all aspects of research should be shared as openly as possible,” says Dr Hahnel. “We’ve seen a maturing of the open research and open data movement over the past decade, and to a great extent our company and its solutions, such as Figshare, have played a critical role in helping to disrupt and transform research, making research more open.

“It’s my hope that our new Open Principles will help reflect to the research community just how important we feel open research is in creating benefits for society. These are not just internal principles, they represent our broader commitment to the entire research ecosystem,” Dr Hahnel says.

Digital Science has also recently launched its new Research Transformation campaign, an initiative to challenge the broader research community to think differently about how research should evolve and respond to the changing research landscape to meet societal needs for the benefit of all. 

About Digital Science

Digital Science is an AI-focused technology company providing innovative solutions to complex challenges faced by researchers, universities, funders, industry and publishers. We work in partnership to advance global research for the benefit of society. Through our brands – Altmetric, Dimensions, Figshare, ReadCube, Symplectic, IFI CLAIMS Patent Services, Overleaf, Writefull, OntoChem, Scismic and metaphacts – we believe when we solve problems together, we drive progress for all. Visit www.digital-science.com and follow @digitalsci on X or on LinkedIn.

Media contacts

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David Ellis, Press, PR & Social Manager, Digital Science: Mobile +61 447 783 023, d.ellis@digital-science.com