ZBW launches Open Science Guide for economists
Kiel/Hamburg, 1 September 2021: Open Access, Open Data and Co. offer many advantages to researchers. Although Open Science is gradually becoming the new standard, many researchers still see obstacles to opening up their research. The ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics has created a new online service for economists with practical manuals and tool overviews: Open Economics Guide. The Open Economics Guide offers practical orientation so economists can practise Open Science successfully and enjoy its benefits.
Open Science enables a higher quality of scholarly work and benefits the reliability and credibility of research findings. In addition, it creates new impulses for research and knowledge transfer, also towards politics, business and society. The conditions of science policy are changing in favour of Open Science.
Economic researchers are still finding it difficult to implement Open Science in practice. Lack of time and support are the main obstacles, as the ZBW study „The importance of Open Science in economics“ has shown. According to the study, economists in Germany want more support and a central web portal for Open Science platforms, tools and applications.
To answer these needs, the ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics has launched the Open Economics Guide on 1 September 2021.
The Open Economics Guide is the tailor-made central address for Open Science in economics. The Open Economics Guide offers concrete benefits that can be gained quickly and easily and can promote researchers’ work and career. The Open Economics Guide supports them with practical tips, methods and tools in their individual and successful application of Open Science. The Open Economics Guide includes an easy-to-understand quick introduction to Open Access, Open Data and Open Tools, a comprehensive overview of tools, a knowledge database, and a glossary.
The Open Economics Guide will be developed continuously with new material about Open Source and Open Educational Resources. The team is looking for closer cooperation with economists to create new content jointly. In the spirit of Open Science, the contents of the Open Economics Guide are published under an open licence and can thus be reused in other contexts.
