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Systemic Challenges

Open Science Policy Program

Open Science Policy Program

ORCA is keenly aware that a range of private and public organizations are in need of “white glove service” to help them devise open science policies that simultaneously leverage emerging best practices and are tailored to fit their unique circumstances.

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An orca whale gracefully breaches the ocean surface, surrounded by splashing water, with the words "Open Science Policy Program" overlaid in the foreground, emphasizing marine life conservation and scientific collaboration.
An orca whale gracefully breaches the ocean surface, surrounded by splashing water, with the words "Open Science Policy Program" overlaid in the foreground, emphasizing marine life conservation and scientific collaboration.

Overview

ORCA is keenly aware that a range of private and public organizations are in need of “white glove service” to help them devise open science policies that simultaneously leverage emerging best practices and are tailored to fit their unique circumstances. Since Spring 2024, ORCA has worked proactively with more than twenty philanthropies, governmental agencies, and other interested entities from around the globe to help them align their open science strategies with their organizational goals and missions. Activities include informational sessions, staff advising, policy drafting and editing, and any other assistance needed to develop, implement, advance, and manage open science policies. To aid in advising, ORCA has put together a Policy Development Tool in which organizations can answer a few simple questions to help us understand more about their priorities and goals.

Examples of some of the organizations we have advised include the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, the American Heart Association, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, the Health Research Alliance, the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research, Lupus Research Alliance, Mussallem Foundation, and the World Bank, among others. Additionally, ORCA has helped the Belmont Forum – an international partnership of more than two dozen organizations representing countries all over the world – update and approve a new data sharing policy. We continue to advise Belmont and other organizations as they field questions from grantees, and generally move from policy approval to implementation.

ORCA has also worked with professional societies, including the Alliance for Data Science and AI (ADSA) and the Council of Graduate Departments of Psychology (COGDOP), to help them articulate their disciplinary perspectives on open science. The declarations they have developed – ADSA’s Open Science and Open Scholarship and COGDOP Principles for Modernizing Hiring, Tenure, and Promotion in Psychological Science (with open science as a key pillar) –  serve as guiding documents that their membership can point to and leverage as they promote institutional or departmental policies.  

Target Communities

  • Philanthropic funders

  • Professional societies and disciplinary organizations

  • Public or government funders

  • Other organizations that do grantmaking

  • Organizations that create their own IP 

Goals

  • Make the process of drafting or updating an open science policy easier for organizations

  • Walk organizations through the possible components of an open science policy, and explain why they might choose different options depending on their goals and mission

  • Help organizations understand how their policies could align with similar organizations

  • Provide sample language that organizations can adopt and adapt to their needs

How to Get Involved

This is a service that ORCA provides for free to any interested organization. If you would like to learn more, please contact Greg Tananbaum at greg@orcaopen.org, or Erin McKiernan at erin@orcaopen.org.

Current and Prior Funders