Rethinking Open Science: The Role of Communication

Abstract

The aim of this study is to present discourses on Open Science. My reconstruction emphasizes the role of communication in science. I use two models of communication for the analysis: the transmission model and the constitutive model. By reconstructing the main method of defining Open Science, I demonstrate that the role of communication in science has been reduced to the dissemination of the knowledge produced. Such theorizing is typical of the transmission model and ignores the stage of the social construction of knowledge. However, it is possible to consider this stage when the constitutive model of communication is used. My findings show that the constitutive understanding of communication is more useful in analyzing the Open Science phenomenon if we focus on the communicative dimension of scientific practices.