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Call for papers - Open science: bias, challenges, and barriers

Guest Editors

Tim Mathes, PhD, University Medical Center Goettingen, Germany
Rahul Mhaskar, MPH, PhD, University of South Florida, USA
Livia Puljak, MD, PhD, Catholic University of Croatia, Croatia
Matt Vassar, PhD, Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences, USA

Submission Status: Open   |   Submission Deadline: 30 November 2024
 

BMC Medical Research Methodology is welcoming submissions for our Collection focused on Open science: bias, challenges, and barriers. Open science represents a transformative paradigm shift in the way scientific research is conducted, disseminated, and accessed. Rooted in principles of transparency, collaboration, and accessibility, it emphasizes the unrestricted sharing of research outputs, data, and methodologies. 

By making research freely available to the global scientific community and the public, open science not only enhances the visibility and impact of scholarly work but also fosters interdisciplinary collaboration. 

This collection invites original research on the challenges and opportunities associated with full participation, citizen science, open access, and the broader implications of open science on publishing policies.

New Content ItemThis Collection supports and amplifies research related to SDG 4: Quality Education, and SDG 10: Reduced Inequality.

Meet the Guest Editors

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Tim Mathes, PhD, University Medical Center Goettingen, Germany

Prof Tim Mathes is Professor for biostatistics at the department of medical statistics at the University Medical Centre Goettingen. His research focus is on methods for evidence synthesizes including, approaches for patient participation and methods for evidence informed policy. Currently, he is involved in meta-research projects on publication bias and risk of bias in non-randomized studies that are based on real-world data.

Rahul Mhaskar, MPH, PhD, University of South Florida, USA

Dr Rahul Mhaskar is an Assistant Dean for Medical Student Research, an Associate Professor in Internal Medicine and Medical Education at the Morsani College of Medicine, and the director of the Research, Innovation, and Scholarly endeavors office. Dr Mhaskar has collaborated with researchers across the globe and published several peer-reviewed manuscripts. He received the Young Investigator award from YUMA friends of Arizona Health Sciences Center. He has received the most prestigious recognition in evidence-based medicine, “The Thomas C Chalmers Award” from the Cochrane Collaboration. Dr Mhaskar’s research interests include evidence-based medicine, comparative effectiveness research, and translational sciences.

Livia Puljak, MD, PhD, Head, Center for Evidence-Based Medicine and Healthcare, Catholic University of Croatia, Croatia

Livia Puljak is a full Professor at the Catholic University of Croatia, where she is also the Head of the Center for Evidence-Based Medicine and Healthcare. Her research interests include research methodology, evidence-based medicine, and clinical epidemiology. She was the inaugural director of Cochrane Croatia. In 2017, she was awarded the Chris Silagy Prize from Cochrane for her contribution to developing evidence-based medicine and in 2019, the Bill Silverman Prize for a research article containing the best criticism of Cochrane. She was listed among 2% of researchers with the highest citation impact in the world in the years 2020-2023. 

Matt Vassar, PhD, Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences, USA

Matt Vassar, PhD, is a Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences, with a PhD in research design and statistics (2006). His work focuses on enhancing clinical research quality and advocacy for open science practices. As a meta-scientist, he has significantly contributed to multiple medical fields, underscored by his leadership in federally funded projects aimed at improving addiction science research methodologies. Dr Vassar's dedication to research excellence is highlighted by his role as director of medical student research and his management of a NIAAA funded T-35 mentorship program. His scholarly output includes over 400 peer-reviewed publications, positioning him in the top 2% of biomedical scientists globally according to a study by Elsevier/Stanford University. He serves on the Editorial Board for BMC Medical Research Methodology. His work, celebrated in prestigious media and achieving high Altmetric scores, demonstrates his impact on the scientific community.

About the Collection

BMC Medical Research Methodology is welcoming submissions for our Collection focused on Open science: bias, challenges, and barriers. Open science represents a transformative paradigm shift in the way scientific research is conducted, disseminated, and accessed. Rooted in principles of transparency, collaboration, and accessibility, it emphasizes the unrestricted sharing of research outputs, data, and methodologies. By making research freely available to the global scientific community and the public, open science not only enhances the visibility and impact of scholarly work but also fosters interdisciplinary collaboration.

This collection invites original research on the challenges and opportunities associated with full participation, citizen science, open access, and the broader implications of open science on publishing policies.

Some topics may include, but are not limited to:

  • Enhancing researcher participation
  • Impact of open science policies on research
  • Biases in open science and mitigation strategies
  • Inclusivity in open science
  • Open access publishing policies
  • Challenges in data sharing and collaboration
  • Reproducibility and transparency


This Collection supports and amplifies research related to SDG 4: Quality Education, and SDG 10: Reduced Inequality.
 

Image credit: kreizihorse / Fotolia

  1. When different researchers study the same research question using the same dataset they may obtain different and potentially even conflicting results. This is because there is often substantial flexibility in ...

    Authors: Maximilian M. Mandl, Andrea S. Becker-Pennrich, Ludwig C. Hinske, Sabine Hoffmann and Anne-Laure Boulesteix
    Citation: BMC Medical Research Methodology 2024 24:152
    Content type: Research Published on:

  2. The dissemination of clinical trial results is an important scientific and ethical endeavour. This survey of completed interventional studies in a French academic center describes their reporting status.

    Authors: Anne Sophie Alix-Doucet, Constant Vinatier, Loïc Fin, Hervé Léna, Hélène Rangé, Clara Locher and Florian Naudet
    Citation: BMC Medical Research Methodology 2024 24:93
    Content type: Research Published on:

Submission Guidelines

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This Collection welcomes submission of original Research Articles. Should you wish to submit a different article type, please read our submission guidelines to confirm that type is accepted by the journal. Articles for this Collection should be submitted via our submission system, Snapp. During the submission process you will be asked whether you are submitting to a Collection, please select ["Open science: bias, challenges, and barriers"] from the dropdown menu.

Articles will undergo the journal’s standard peer-review process and are subject to all of the journal’s standard policies. Articles will be added to the Collection as they are published.

The Editors have no competing interests with the submissions which they handle through the peer review process. The peer review of any submissions for which the Editors have competing interests is handled by another Editorial Board Member who has no competing interests.