Since their publication, the Principles of Open Science Monitoring have been adopted by a growing number of institutions and organisations seeking to strengthen the quality and integrity of their monitoring systems. Two recent examples illustrate how the Principles are being applied in practice.
HEAL-Link Scholarly Communication Unit used the OSMI Principles to evaluate the OpenAIRE Monitor as a potential foundation for a national dashboard monitoring Greece’s overall research output. In their assessment, the Principles helped the evaluation team move beyond a narrow focus on functionality to consider the technical, ethical, and practical dimensions of monitoring systems – factors that carry particular weight given the influence such systems can have on institutional, funding, and policy decisions.
“Using the OSMI Principles ensured that we examined factors that go beyond just functionality,” the team noted, adding that the process shifted their attention “from simply collecting and displaying data, to ensuring that the data are trustworthy, meaningful, and interpreted responsibly.”
PLOS applied the Principles in a self-assessment of a monitoring system built on PLOS Open Science Indicators (OSI) data. The exercise highlighted the value of the Principles as a comprehensive checklist for evaluating monitoring systems across their full life-cycle, while also surfacing a methodological challenge: the Principles can apply differently to a dashboard and to the data that feeds into it, particularly when some inputs originate from external sources.
“They helped to ensure that our self-assessment covered all the relevant aspects,” the PLOS team reported, suggesting that future assessments “might benefit from considering the principles across multiple stages of monitoring systems, even where some of the inputs may come from outside sources.”
Both experiences reflect the broader aim of the OSMI Principles: to support more rigorous, transparent, and accountable open science monitoring by drawing on collective expertise rather than the judgment of any single team.
Have you applied the OSMI Principles in your own work? We welcome institutions and organisations to share their experience with the OSMI community. Contact us at osmi-coordination@groupes.renater.fr.
If you’re interested in reading more experiences with the Principles, you can find them on our testimonials page.