[Next] [Previous] All Values

Openness

Many of the codes of ethics, especially those dedicated to research, express openness as a core value, though often with conditions attached. The Sorbonne Declaration, for example, states "research data should, as much as possible be shared openly and reused, without compromising national security, institutional autonomy, privacy, indigenous rights and the protection of intellectual property" (Sorbonne Declaration, 2020). Similarly, the Declaration of Helsinki states "researchers have a duty to make publicly available the results of their research on human subjects and are accountable for the completeness and accuracy of their reports" (WMA, 2013).

Another project, FAIRsFAIR, is based on the the FAIR Guiding Principles (GoFAIR, 2020) for scientific data management and stewardship (Wilkenson, et.al., 2016). The principles (and the acronym derived from them) are "Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reusability\x97that serve to guide data producers and publishers as they navigate around these obstacles, thereby helping to maximize the added-value gained by contemporary, formal scholarly digital publishing."

In many cases, openness is described in terms of access serving the public good. The Asilomar Convention includes a principle of openness representing learning and scientific inquiry as "public goods essential for well-functioning democracies" (Stevens & Silbey, 2014). Citing The Research Data Alliance's 2014 "The Data Harvest Report" the Concordat Working Group, (2016) authors write "the storing, sharing and re-use of scientific data on a massive scale will stimulate great new sources of wealth" (Genova, et.al., 2014).

Openness is also described in some principles as openness of access to services. The IFLA (2019), for example, expresses "support for the principles of open access, open source, and open licenses" and "provision of services free of cost to the user." The Canadian Nurses association code includes "advocating for publicly administered health systems that ensure accessibility, universality, portability and comprehensiveness in necessary health-care services" (CAN, 2017).

Openness is also described in some principles as 'transparency' of methods and processes (IA, 2019; Raden, 2019: 9; Cavoukian, 2013; CSPL, 1995) in a way that often references accountability (as referenced above). The Accenture code, for example, urges professionals to foster transparency and accountability (Accenture, 2016:5). The High-Level Expert Group on Artificial Intelligence (AI HLEG) also advocates transparency, which includes traceability, explainability and communication.

Finally, openness can be thought of as the opposite of secrecy, as mentioned in the Department of Health, Education and Welfare report, stating that individuals should have a way to find out what information about them is in a record and how it is used (Ware, et.al., 1973). It is also the opposite of censorship (IFLA, 2019; ALA, 2008).

Found In...

Examples and Articles

Do you have another example of Openness? Suggest it here

Force:yes