From 22–26 September 2025, the National Network of Open Science Communities hosted a nationwide week of open science activities. As OSCA, we took part in this initiative to connect with our members, exchange knowledge, and engage in discussions on current open science topics, including new publishing initiatives, positionality statements, and other meta-scientific themes.
On Monday, September 22, the Student Initiative for Open Science opened the Open Science Week with a “Symposium on the Future of Academic Publishing” at the University of Amsterdam. After an overview of the current publishing landscape, three diamond open access initiatives shared their innovative approaches to challenging the status quo.
Prof. Dr. J.S. Caux introduced SciPost, a diamond open access publishing infrastructure, explaining its editorial workflow, business model, and the challenges of sustaining such initiatives in a system largely designed for commercial publishers.
Next, Dr. Alexandra Sarafoglou presented the Journal of Robustness Reports, a SciPost journal that promotes the reanalysis of high-profile findings through concise article formats.
Finally, Stefan Gaillard addressed the taboos surrounding failure in science, introducing the Journal of Trial and Error–a platform dedicated to publishing null, unexpected, and erroneous results to foster learning through trial and error.
On Wednesday, September 24, the Amsterdam University Medical Center hosted the networking event “Networking: Spotlight on Open Science“. This event brought together colleagues for a late-afternoon hour of talks highlighting experiences with open science practices from three local researchers who took part in the Open Science Community Amsterdam Awards, followed by drinks and an open science–themed game.
The last day of the Open Science week 2025, September 26, featured the workshop “Positionality Statements: A tool to Open up Your Research” organised in collaboration with the Netherlands Research Integrity Network and hosted at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Developed by Daniela Gawehns, Tamarinde Haven,and Bogdana Huma, the session brought together a diverse group of scholars who were keen to reflect on their standpoints and how these may play a role in their scientific practice. We used guided free-writing prompts, which sparked a powerful conversation connecting openness with vulnerability, courage, and accountability and enabled participants to discover how their unique backgrounds and experiences shape their research. The core take-away message was that by transparently acknowledging our own standpoints, we not only help others to better contextualise our work, but also foster a more profoundly open research culture. If you would like to know more or host your own Positionality workshop, please feel free to download and reuse the PowerPoint slides and workbook.
