The lecture series “Open Science and Research Quality in Theory and Practice” was organized for the first time jointly by the Department of Science Studies at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and the Objective 3: Advancing Research Quality and Value of the Berlin University Alliance and in collaboration with the Robert K. Merton Center in the summer semester 2021.

This first lecture series was based on the various publicized cases of “scientific misconduct”, the discussion about the (non-)replicability of central research results and the internal debates about standards and research practices in diverse disciplinary cultures. These events have recently led to a recurring critique and deeper examination of the issue of research quality. One answer to the question of how this can be sustainably improved in scientific institutions can be found, among others, in the open science movement, whose demands go far beyond the open access approach. The lecture provides an analytical overview of key elements of research quality and open science and their intersections. Guests from the research and application communities spoke on topics such as peer review, evaluation practices, accessibility and usability of free research data and results, and emerging digital infrastructures.

The lecture series, which is expected to be resumed in the winter semester of 2022, is designed for students of the master’s degree program in Science Studies and is open to master’s and doctoral students of all disciplines as well as an interested (professional) audience. Individual sessions of the 2021 lecture cycle have been recorded and are available on the BUA YouTube channel “WissenausBerlin”.