Clemens Blümel

Open Science, it is often held, aims at enhancing the science and society relationship by making science more open, transparent, and accessible to the public, thereby restoring trust in scholarly knowledge production. Yet, in order to restore trust and to make science more accountable to the public, scholars are also expected to more openly communicate their ideas and findings to the public, exploring new channels for communication and interaction with wider audiences. This session aims to explore which frictions such practices of open communication face in the light digitalization.

Science and Technology Studies, but also quantitative science studies carry a legacy of research evaluation, represented by concepts as diverse as the h-Index or Altmetrics, focussing on research output. Even research on research collaboration often aims at examining networks of (“successful”) knowledge production. Collaboration holds the promise to foster innovation – which is measured in scientometrics in terms of output. We argue, that digital traces of research in progress allow for gaining a more comprehensive picture of the research process and the research collaboration landscape. Failure does not invalidate research.