In March 2024, PathOS hosted an invitation-only co-creation workshop on Open Science Impact Pathways. Being more than halfway into the project, the PathOS team organised the event to share advanced results of the project work and gather feedback from key Open Science experts.
The workshop focused on presenting preliminary results from the testing of the Key Impact Pathway (KIP) framework, developed by the project team. Building on evidence from scoping reviews and case studies, PathOS is applying this pathway framework by gathering the evidence from various perspectives, taking into consideration different Open Science activities and categories of impact.
The workshop was an opportunity for participants to have early access to project results (soon to be released with Deliverable 1.3 Key Impact Pathways for Open Science), to provide insightful feedback on the work carried out so far, and help shape the direction of the project’s work to ensure relevance for policy makers and stakeholders.
Participants expressed a strong interest in the framework and preliminary results developed by the project. They also stressed that different elements must be analysed carefully when presenting the impact pathways. Such elements include the data collection process in the form of the scope, the amount of the screened literature and the type and strength of evidence for the existence (or absence) of impacts.
The discussion identified challenges, such as the availability and diversity of evidence, particularly in delineating societal impacts. Participants underscored the significance of weighing evidence quality and considering alternative sources beyond traditional publications, such as grey literature and archived data. In addition, the detail and context for interventions, such as the type of Open Access, were stressed as crucial elements to address in the final impact pathways.
The workshop proved to be constructive for PathOS, as it provided an external validation of the general approach, whilst resulting in valuable feedback on how to refine the analysis. PathOS will use the gathered information to improve this approach in order to better address the needs of policymakers and other Open Science stakeholders.
Recap written by Izabella Martins Grapengiesser, Lennart Stoy, & Elisa Seminaroti from Technopolis Group.
Image by rawpixel.com on Freepik
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