Essays and Experiences on Open Science. “Dominique Babini” Prize
Call
The Dominique Babini Prize is a joint initiative of the Latin American Council of Social Sciences (CLACSO), through its Working Group on “Open Science as a Common Good”; Redalyc, AmeliCA, LA Referencia, and UNESCO (Paris). It aims to stimulate the production of rigorous studies and systematize democratizing experiences related to various components of open science, and to pay tribute to and give well-deserved recognition to the career of Dominique Babini, a pioneer of the Latin American and Caribbean open access movement and one of the most insightful, committed, and generous figures in the field of open science studies and intervention worldwide, with a perspective from the Global South.
In a world constantly vying for access to and circulation of knowledge as a common good, various individuals, collective projects, and institutions from Latin America and the Caribbean have contributed decisive positions, actions, and experiences to its democratization through sustained collaborative practices and openness to new infrastructures, diverse audiences, and generations. This is the case of the Latin American Council of Social Sciences (CLACSO), where Dominique has been carrying out essential work for decades promoting, training, knowledge production, and professional intervention in favor of the "non-commercial open access model to knowledge," as she prefers to call it, to make it clear that in our region we defend knowledge as a public good. In her words, "the global academic and scientific community must be the one to safeguard open access academic communications, including peer review, quality control, and evaluation indicator systems." (Babini, 2014, p.433).
A Doctor of Political Science with postgraduate training in scientific documentation, she was called upon by CLACSO in 1983 to carry out various projects in collaboration with the publishing, library, academic, and IT departments to collect, process, and disseminate the output of the Council and its member centers, initially in databases integrated into regional and international networks of information on research and its output. The CLACSO Virtual Library was launched in 1998, and in 2002 the development of the CLACSO digital repositorywhich reflects the open access output of the Council and its member centers. Supporting the necessary cultural shift with the publication and dissemination of best practices and innovations in open access and its indicators, with promotional and training activities in the region, in collaboration with other regional initiatives such as Latindex, Redalyc-AmeliCA, The Reference, Latin American Forum on Scientific Evaluation (FOLEC-CLACSO)among others. Babini has been one of the driving forces behind the CLACSO Declaration on open access to knowledge managed as a common good (CLACSO, 2015), from the Mexico Declaration in favor of the Latin American ecosystem of non-commercial open access (Latindex, Redalyc, CLACSO, IBICT, 2017), from the editorial staff of the Dakar Declaration on Open Access Publishing in Africa and the Global South and is part of the group of international specialists who drafted the Initiative of Budapest Open Access 2022 and reviewed the drafts for the UNESCO Recommendation on Open ScienceHe is a Fellow of the International Science Council (ISC), where he is part of the Workgroup ISC on the future of scientific publishing. This Award seeks to honor his valuable career and to be an incentive for new generations to share their productions, experiences and practices regarding open access and open science, and the possible contributions and challenges for the common good of our societies.
This is a Call for proposals for essays, research results and systematizations of experiences aimed at postgraduate students, professors and researchers interested, specialists and activists committed to the advancement of open science, endorsed by Member Centers of the CLACSO network.
In this first edition 2024, the Dominique Babini Prize We propose to receive essays focused on three thematic areas:
- Progress and challenges in open access as a global common good
- Experiences of cognitive justice through openness in the Latin American and Caribbean open science movement
- Systematization of innovative practices on open science in the Latin American and Caribbean context.
RULES OF THE CALL FOR APPLICATIONS
- This call for proposals is aimed at postgraduate students, professors, interested researchers, specialists, and activists committed to advances in open science, endorsed by CLACSO Network Member Centers.
- At least one applicant must have documented ties to a CLACSO Member Center. The information provided on the registration form is considered a sworn statement. If the essay proposal is selected, a letter of support signed by the highest authority of the Member Center must be submitted.
- Authors from any Latin American and Caribbean country may participate, who make different theoretical, analytical and/or methodological contributions to open science from the field of social sciences and humanities and/or from interdisciplinary perspectives and/or in an expanded dialogue of knowledge.
- The essay proposal may be submitted individually or in authorship teams of up to 5 people.
- In the case of co-authorship, we recommend respecting gender parity and the identity of the authors until the end of the selection process.
- Each author may only participate in this Call for Proposals with one proposal.
- The member centers to which the applicants are linked must not have any outstanding debts in the payment of membership fees corresponding to the year 2024.
- Members of the Steering Committee or officials of the CLACSO Executive Secretariat are not eligible to participate. However, the participation of members of the CLACSO Network Working Groups will be accepted.
- Essay proposals from authors who are currently recipients of research grants, fellowships, or essay competitions organized by CLACSO will not be accepted. Submissions from authors who have previously received a CLACSO research grant will be accepted, provided the recipient has fulfilled all obligations in a timely manner.
- If selected and travel is required, the winners will be responsible for covering the costs of medical insurance or similar expenses.
The selected works (up to 6) will receive the following recognition:
- First prizePartial support for participation in an International Seminar on the theme of the Call (to be held during 2025) and the publication of the work in a collective book co-edited by CLACSO, together with the Working Group “Open Science as a Common Good”.
- Second prizeA 100% scholarship to take one of the training courses offered by CLACSO (virtual seminars or Higher Diplomas) and the publication of the work in a collective book co-edited by CLACSO together with the Working Group “Open Science as a Common Good”.
- Third prizePublication of the work in a collective book co-edited by CLACSO together with the Working Group “Open Science as a Common Good”.
The three remaining works will receive honorable mentions and their essays will be included in the collective publication.
Any eventuality not covered in this Call for Entries will be resolved by the institutions organizing the competition.
These grants will be made effective once the final essay has been approved as publishable.
- The essay proposal, research results and/or experience presented must be original and, if selected, the final essay presented must also be original, and cannot be committed for publication or have won prizes in other competitions.
- This 2024 edition will have three thematic categories: “Advances and Challenges in Open Access as a Global Common Good,” “Experiences of Cognitive Justice through Openness in the Latin American and Caribbean Open Science Movement,” and “Systematization of Innovative Open Science Practices in the Latin American and Caribbean Context.” Submitted papers may be national, international, case studies, or cross-cutting analyses. They may also be based on empirical studies or theoretical developments.
- The essay proposal, research result or experience must be uploaded as an attachment to the registration system, have a maximum of 1200 words and include a complete summary and work plan, considering the length and characteristics of the final work.
- Texts written in the four languages commonly used in Latin America and the Caribbean (Spanish, English, Portuguese and French) will be accepted, depending on the country of origin of the proposal.
- The Prize will recognize the quality, creativity, and contribution of the essay, research findings, or experience to the analysis and understanding of specific aspects of the call's theme, as well as its contribution to advancing fairer and more democratic collaboration in the access, production, dissemination, and evaluation of knowledge through openness. Furthermore, efforts will be made to ensure adequate institutional, regional, and gender representation when selecting essay proposals, research findings, and/or systematizations of experiences.
- The final paper should be between 12.000 and 15.000 words in length (excluding appendices and bibliography), written in Times New Roman 12-point font, single-spaced. This is an approximate length, and the organizing institutions reserve the right to accept revisions or exceptions if they deem it necessary. The text structure is flexible, respecting the conventions for academic writing, and the editorial guidelines must adhere to those of CLACSO.
- CLACSO and the Open Science as a Common Good Working Group will publish the final products in print and/or digital media, giving them wide publicity and dissemination through the means they deem appropriate. If necessary, the authors will be asked to make the adaptations and adjustments required for the publication of the resulting research.
- The authors will grant the original publication rights of their works under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license, adhering to the principles of open access to knowledge, so that the resulting material is easy to find, accessible, interoperable, and reusable. Subsequently, the contributions may be published in any other medium, always citing this Call for Papers. The authors must inform CLACSO of the subsequent publication of the works resulting from their research.
- If the authors have used artificial intelligence-generated content (AIGC) in any part of a manuscript, including text, data, images, graphics, videos, quotations or translations, the tool and its use should be described in detail in the Methods and/or Acknowledgments sections of the manuscript, including the instructions used if applicable, and the full text of the original AIGC should be attached as supplementary material.
- The procedure for submitting applications to the Call for Proposals will have two stages:
- First stage: the essay proposal, research result, or systematization of experience will be submitted, consisting of a complete summary and a work plan, taking into account the scope and characteristics of the final work. The jury will evaluate and select up to six projects, according to the selection criteria outlined in these guidelines.
- Second stage: Within 40 days of notification of the selection results, the final work must be submitted according to the defined guidelines. The jury will select up to six (6) winning essays.
- The deadline for online registration of essay proposals is November 11, 2024. The deadline for final submission of complete and publishable works by the selected authors is February 3, 2025.
The proposal evaluation process will comprise three stages:
- In the first stage, the submitted essay proposals will be reviewed for their formal and administrative aspects to ensure they comply with the competition rules. Proposals that do not meet the established requirements will be rejected outright.
- Applications that advance to the next stage will be evaluated by an International Committee of experts who will assess the quality and relevance of the proposals, which must be submitted under a pseudonym. Up to six essay proposals will be selected from this process.
- The six final essays will be reviewed and evaluated by an international jury composed of specialists with proven track records and recognized authority in the field. Based on these six final essays, the international jury will determine the winner, and may declare the competition void or award the prize to a smaller number of essays if it deems the submitted final essays do not meet the required standard.
- The Jury's decision will be irrevocable and unappealable, and will be made public on the CLACSO websites.
- Situations not covered in this document will be resolved by the convening institution.
It is mandatory that the submission be made through the online registration system provided by CLACSO. Printed submissions and submissions sent by email will not be accepted. It is recommended to access the online system to review the registration form.
- Visit the CLACSO website at clacso.org. The online registration system will be available starting October 1, 2024.
- Register in the CLACSO Single Registration System (SUIC). The generated username and password will be required each time you wish to access the system to consult, modify, add, or submit information for this or any other CLACSO activity. Applicants with joint proposals must open a single form that includes all authors on the team. One of the authors must also be designated as responsible for the registration.
- Identify the proposal by indicating its title and the pseudonym of the applicant(s). Applications with pseudonyms that correspond to the applicant's first and/or last name will not be accepted. Once the corresponding fields are completed, the system will enable the uploading of the following data.
- Applicants must indicate on the form their affiliation with a CLACSO Member Center. The database of member centers can be found at: clacso.org.ar/clacso/centros_miembros_clacso/inicio.php.
- Complete the personal and academic data form and attach the curriculum vitae in free format; the digital copy of the identity document, passport or ID card; the digital copy of the highest academic degree obtained (or proof of degree in process) and the photograph.
- The proposal must be filled out on the form that appears once the personal and academic data has been completed.
- Once registration is closed, the system will produce an electronic certificate of receipt that will serve as proof of application.
Registration closes: November 11, 2024
Publication of selected essay proposals: November 2024
Submission of complete and publishable works: February 3, 2025
Those authors whose essay proposals, research findings, or systematization of experience are selected will be contacted by email. The list of winning final papers will be published on the CLACSO website.
Queries: [email protected]
OPINION – Essays and Experiences on Open Science. “Dominique Babini” Prize
The “Dominique Babini” Prize is a joint initiative of the Latin American Council of Social Sciences (CLACSO), through its Working Group “Open Science as a Common Good”; Redalyc, AmeliCA, LA Referencia, and UNESCO (Paris). It aims to stimulate the production of rigorous studies and systematize democratizing experiences related to various components of open science, and to pay tribute to and give well-deserved recognition to the career of Dominique Babini, a pioneer of the Latin American and Caribbean open access movement and one of the most insightful, committed, and generous figures in the field of open science studies and intervention worldwide, with a perspective from the Global South.
In a world constantly vying for access to and circulation of knowledge as a common good, various individuals, collective projects, and institutions from Latin America and the Caribbean have contributed decisive positions, actions, and experiences to its democratization through sustained collaborative practices and openness to new infrastructures, diverse audiences, and generations. This is the case of the Latin American Council of Social Sciences (CLACSO), where Dominique has been carrying out essential work for decades promoting, training, knowledge production, and professional intervention in favor of the “non-commercial open access model to knowledge,” as she prefers to call it, to make it clear that in our region we defend knowledge as a public good. In her words, “the global academic and scientific community must be the one to safeguard open access academic communications, including peer review, quality control, and evaluation indicator systems.”
The Call paid for the submission of essay proposals, research results and systematizations of experiences aimed at postgraduate students, professors and researchers interested, specialists and activists committed to the advancement of open science, endorsed by Member Centers of the CLACSO network.
In this first edition in 2024, the Dominique Babini Prize aimed to receive essays focused on three thematic areas:
- Progress and challenges in open access as a global common good
- Experiences of cognitive justice through openness in the Latin American and Caribbean open science movement
- Systematization of innovative practices on open science in the context
Latin American and Caribbean.
During the registration process, the following steps were opened: 47 forms and were finally received 17 applications, of which, after technical and formal review, 14 The essay proposals were in a position to be qualitatively evaluated by the International Committee to consider the quality, relevance and coherence of the proposals according to the Call.
The evaluation process was carried out by an International Committee composed of 4 experts from 4 countries: Eduardo Aguado López (Mexico), Laura Bonora (Spain), Claudia De Souza (Puerto Rico) and Guillermina D'Onofrio (Argentina).
According to the evaluation carried out, the list of selected proposals from the Call for Proposals is as follows:
|
Order of merit |
Authors |
CLACSO member center |
Country |
Title of the proposal |
|
1 |
Fernando Ariel López |
Workers' Innovation Center – CITRA – CONICET and UMET (Metropolitan University for Education and Work) |
Argentina |
Evolution of Open Access and Research Data Management in Higher Education in Argentina |
|
2 |
María Ángela Petrizzo Paez – Maria Paz Míguez – Jesica Formoso – Laura Ación – Nicolás Palopoli |
Southern Anthropologies Network Foundation – REDAS |
Venezuela |
Epistemic Justice and Open Science in Latin America and the Caribbean: The MetaTeaching Case |
|
3 |
Lisha Dávila |
Center for Advanced Studies – FCS/UNC – Faculty of Social Sciences – National University of Córdoba |
Argentina |
Paradoxes of open access: Is public communication of science a key to accessibility and appropriation? |
Having been selected, the awards will be given in the following order:
1 °) Partial support for participation in an International Seminar on the theme of the Call (to be held during 2025) and the publication of the work in a collective book co-edited by CLACSO, together with the Working Group “Open Science as a Common Good”.
2 °) A 100% scholarship to take one of the training courses offered by CLACSO (virtual seminars or Higher Diplomas in 2025) and the publication of the work in a collective book co-edited by CLACSO together with the Working Group “Open Science as a Common Good”.
3 °) Publication of the work in a collective book co-edited by CLACSO together with the Working Group “Open Science as a Common Good”
Furthermore, due to the quality and strength of the proposals, the following awards are granted honorable mentions:
|
Authors |
CLACSO member center |
Country |
Title of the proposal |
|
Aurora Lechuga Rodríguez |
Secretariat of Development and Institutional Linkage – UNA – National University of the Arts |
Argentina |
Model of an Open Access Institutional Repository for the International Cooperation Network of National Universities (REDCIUN): University Education in the Arts in Latin America and the Caribbean |
|
María Fernanda Solano |
Faculty of Social Sciences – UNA – Faculty of Social Sciences – National University |
Costa Rica |
Strategies to Protect and Strengthen Scientific-Academic Journals in the Diamond Pathway: An Analysis of the Management Model of the National University of Costa Rica |
|
Ezequiel Vallejo |
Faculty of Social Sciences – UNA – Faculty of Social Sciences – National University |
Costa Rica |
Open science and open access as a bridge to inclusion for people with disabilities globally |
|
Daniela Vanesa Perrotta |
Secretariat of Research and Postgraduate Studies – SIPFyL/UBA – Faculty of Philosophy and Letters – University of Buenos Aires |
Argentina |
Political mobilization for the right to knowledge in Latin America and the Caribbean: from non-commercial open access to open science. Networks, ideas, and regional strategies to challenge and transform the global landscape from the Latin American Council of Social Sciences (CLACSO) |
|
Yatzaira Coromoto Fragozo Perez |
Center for Studies of Social Transformations, Science and Knowledge – CETSCC/IVIC – Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research |
Venezuela |
Collaborative science for social intervention and public policy design |
|
Sergio Santamarina |
Institute of Social Studies in Contexts of Inequality – UNPAZ – National University of José C. Paz |
Argentina |
Persistent Identifiers, the Achilles' heel of Open Science |
The works of the honorable mentions will be published in the collective book.
This ruling is irrevocable and cannot be appealed.
Buenos Aires, December 27, 2024.
