The Principles of Open Science Monitoring are now online, offering a global, aspirational framework for how Open Science can be tracked and supported through inclusive, transparent, and responsible monitoring approaches.
Developed by the Open Science Monitoring Initiative (OSMI) through a collaborative consultation process with nearly 200 experts from six continents, the Principles offer guidance to governments, funders, institutions, and open infrastructure providers as they develop monitoring approaches suited to their unique contexts. The publication responds to the 2021 UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science, which called for the creation of robust frameworks to support national and international efforts to make science more open, inclusive, and impactful.
Key Takeaways
Relevance & Significance
Monitoring should be well-defined, relevant, and adaptable to diverse research contexts. Indicators must be meaningful for planning and policy, developed through participatory processes, and applicable across a range of disciplines and stakeholder needs, supporting evidence-informed decisions without enforcing a one-size-fits-all model.
Transparency & Reproducibility
Monitoring systems should rely on open infrastructures, use open-source tools, and prioritise public documentation and data provenance. Indicators should be traceable and reproducible, using quality-assured input data and shared methodologies to support transparency, trust, and reusability.
Self-Assessment & Responsible Use
Monitoring should be reviewed regularly, and never used in isolation to rank individuals. Initiatives should be embedded within a culture of learning, improvement, and environmental responsibility. Indicators must reflect the diversity of disciplines, knowledge systems, and stakeholders, and be developed in dialogue with the communities they aim to represent.
Flexibility & Sustainability
The Principles are non-prescriptive and intended to evolve over time. They encourage shared ownership, long-term planning, and practical alignment with local needs, recognising that robust monitoring must balance comparability with contextual sensitivity.
Bringing Experience to the Table: OpenAIRE’s contribution
OpenAIRE is proud to have contributed to this global effort. During the call for consultation, we submitted detailed feedback drawing on our experience in building open monitoring services across Europe, including the OpenAIRE Graph, the Open Science Observatory, MONITOR dashboards, and national-level tools such as Ireland’s National Open Access Monitor.
Our contribution focused on reinforcing the role of open infrastructure in monitoring efforts, advocating for clearer definitions of key concepts, and recognising research software as a core research output. As the Principles are intended to be aspirational and evolving, we look forward to continued dialogue on areas such as the role of AI, software recognition, and integration with open infrastructures, key topics also highlighted in our feedback.
Putting the Principles into Practice
We welcome the Principles as a strong foundation for converging global efforts around Open Science monitoring. While the Principles are not tied to any specific platform, they offer valuable orientation for initiatives for European and national monitoring tools co-developed by OpenAIRE. In fact, the EOSC Open Science Observatory has already put several of these Principles into practice, such as a co-created monitoring framework, and remains committed to further enhancing monitoring capabilities.
OpenAIRE will continue to support the implementation of the Principles by engaging in the newly formed OSMI Working Groups, which aim to foster adoption and capacity-building across diverse global contexts. We are also committed to ensuring our services and methodologies remain aligned with the core values laid out in the Principles.
As Open Science continues to evolve, monitoring will play a critical role in ensuring that practices remain transparent, inclusive, and meaningful, not just measurable.
Read the Principles: https://open-science-monitoring.org/principles/
