Is ‘open science’ delivering benefits? Major study finds proof is sparse | Science | AAAS

"Does the open science movement—the push to make research outputs such as articles, data, and software free to read and reuse—produce the benefits its supporters claim, such as accelerating discovery and promoting science literacy? The answer is a qualified yes, according to one of the most comprehensive, multifaceted studies of the complex and divisive issue.

For example, open-access articles are cited more by other papers and in patent applications. And members of the public participating in research, so-called citizen scientists, learn more about the topic they helped on thanks to open science.

Those are some of the many conclusions released last month from the Open Science Impact Pathways (PathOS) project. But the multidisciplinary team based in Europe that conducted the analyses also stressed it found little strong evidence that open science directly produced long-lasting and widespread effects on research or many economic and social benefits."