In Open Science for Private Interests? How the Logic of Open Science Contributes to the Commercialization of Research, Manuela Fernández Pinto talks about commercial interests in the research itself and how those interests are promoted through open science. He makes the case that open science practices are not always in alignment with the open science ideals of transparency, sharing, collaboration and accountability. The open science movement generally applies to publicly-funded research but the vast majority of scientific research is either conducted (72%) or funded (67%) by businesses. The author identifies three known problems with privately funded research:
- Corporate sponsors can (and do, examples given) suppress research results in conflict with their interests;
- Financial conflicts of interest have a statistically significant effect on research results;
- Strong intellectual property rights give corporations control over research, with the power to both suppress research results and inhibit new research.
Those who participate in publicly-funded open research are strongly encouraged by various bodies to put no commercial restrictions on their works. Businesses are free to use and commercialize open research, while selectively applying open research principles to the research they sponsor. Pinto uses two case studies, publication planning and citizen science, to illustrate how business-funded research skews research and scholarly communication. The author provides compelling reasons for evaluating research sponsorship and potential conflicts of interest, and raises awareness of commercial interests in both promoting and suppressing research.
