Open science practices and policies in public universities. The case of the National University of Córdoba, Argentina

Abstract

Purpose: The article reports the results of an embedded case study on Open Science (OS) practices at the second largest university in Argentina, the National University of Córdoba (UNC). 

Design/methodology/approach: An exploratory survey was carried out among UNC professors and researchers. Semi structured interviews with OS project participants and university management areas were conducted. Data was complemented with online secondary sources.

Findings: OS practices at UNC arise both from top-down and bottom-up initiatives. Some areas such as open access (OA) or open data are established by Argentinian federal law, which mandates green OA via institutional repositories. UNC also boosts diamond OA in a portal with more than 90 journals. We also registered an open heritage archives, an OER portal and various grassroots citizen science initiatives. Other dimensions such as open software and hardware, and open infrastructure, are locally less actively developed.

Originality/value: Public universities are one main pillar of knowledge production in Argentina (and Latin America in general). The case of UNC is of particular interest for having founded one of the first Open Knowledge Offices in the region, articulating OS initiatives. 

Practical & social implications: It is essential to understand how OS initiatives take place and are supported at a local level. There is still little systematic research on this regard. The study raises awareness of OS practices with the aim of gathering experiences, implementations and impacts, recognizing obstacles and good practices.