Open science takes flight: Knowledge continuity and legacy via the Scientiana platform for research projects

As today’s science and innovation landscape evolves in scope and sophistication, new research projects proliferate at an astonishing rate. While these new horizons of inquiry generate exceptional knowledge, however, it is vital that rigorous infrastructures linking them together are established and maintained with an outlook grounded in longevity, accessibility and interoperability. On the one hand, this outlook necessitates the emergence of tools that extend the visibility and impact of project results beyond their lifespans and respective funding. Drawing on more than three decades of experience in science communication, Pensoft Publishers is now seeking to rise and meet this challenge head-on. The result of this endeavour is Scientiana - a new communication platform for open science and the research projects behind it. Rather than yet another static database confined by short-term considerations, this online environment is meant to be a dynamic ecosystem of scientific insights, a focal point for evidence-based collaboration between experts, communicators, policy-makers and citizen scientists. The presentation lays out the constituent elements behind this vision and the contribution the platform is set to make at the intersection between science, governance and society. More specifically, four foundational pillars are brought to the foreground: Scientiana as an evolving research cycles repository - The platform will allow users to trace a project development from inception to completion and browse through an expanding selection of deliverables, publications and resources as they emerge, rather than to showcase a project at a single point in time. Moreover, the thematic and methodological ties between different projects will be made explicit, allowing for greater clarity in stakeholder and synergy mapping. Scientiana as a science communication hub - The platform will consolidate expertise on successful outreach by providing detailed guidance, sharing expert perspectives and promoting success stories in the context of research projects whose enhanced public profile has transformed into a tangible legacy. A number of appealing formats will be deployed in this context, including blog posts, podcast features, interviews, videos and more. Scientiana as an open science library - The platform will store scientific publications that are meticulously categorised across lines of inquiry and embedded in global databases. In this manner, interested parties will be able to comprehensively explore particular topics in terms of the initiatives that are shaping their development over time. Scientiana as a means to #ShareYourScience - The platform will allow individual contributors to directly upload and manage communication materials associated with the project they are affiliated with. In that sense, they will be able to establish and maintain customised spaces, make news announcements, promote events and link publications that are all there to stay for the long term, inviting outside interest, engagement and cooperation. Scientiana as an evolving research cycles repository - The platform will allow users to trace a project development from inception to completion and browse through an expanding selection of deliverables, publications and resources as they emerge, rather than to showcase a project at a single point in time. Moreover, the thematic and methodological ties between different projects will be made explicit, allowing for greater clarity in stakeholder and synergy mapping. Scientiana as a science communication hub - The platform will consolidate expertise on successful outreach by providing detailed guidance, sharing expert perspectives and promoting success stories in the context of research projects whose enhanced public profile has transformed into a tangible legacy. A number of appealing formats will be deployed in this context, including blog posts, podcast features, interviews, videos and more. Scientiana as an open science library - The platform will store scientific publications that are meticulously categorised across lines of inquiry and embedded in global databases. In this manner, interested parties will be able to comprehensively explore particular topics in terms of the initiatives that are shaping their development over time. Scientiana as a means to #ShareYourScience - The platform will allow individual contributors to directly upload and manage communication materials associated with the project they are affiliated with. In that sense, they will be able to establish and maintain customised spaces, make news announcements, promote events and link publications that are all there to stay for the long term, inviting outside interest, engagement and cooperation. The presentation will demonstrate the aforementioned functionalities, contextualising them via eLTER’s own presence on the platform. In other words, attendees would be shown the pathway to impact Scientiana offers its registered users as they transition from visitors to contributors to administrators, helping to propagate new or existing knowledge across and beyond existing informational silos.