Open Science for Non-Specialists: Making Open Science Meaningful Beyond the Scientific Community
May 24, 2022 - Kevin C. Elliott
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A major goal of the open science movement is to make more scientific information available
to non-specialists, but it has been difficult to meaningfully achieve that goal. In response, this
paper argues for two steps: (1) focusing on the scientific content that is most relevant to non
specialist audiences; and (2) packaging that content in meaningful ways for those audiences.
The paper uses a case study involving a major environmental health issue (namely, PFAS
pollution) to illustrate how the proponents of open science can work with groups like government agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and extension services to implement
these two steps.
