Most publicly funded research is locked behind a paywall, so the taxpayers who fund it can’t even access the research. If this research were made free to access, then students, other researchers, and the general public could have more information at their fingertips. Even publishing lab notes and failures would help other researchers to avoid the same mistake and waste precious resources duplicating research that has already been done. It also allows more people to critically analyze the research that is being done and ensure the findings are substantial. 

Open Science benefits everyone, and that’s why the Open Science Committee is always working to spread the word of Open Science! Our current project is working on a video series in collaboration with the Neuro to inform the public about Open Science. This video series will have episodes introducing Open Science, showing off Open Science initiatives, informing students about how they can get involved in Open Science, and more! Last year, we hosted an Open Science Research Fair in partnership with the Tanenbaum Open Science Institute (TOSI), which was a huge success! We had researchers from McGill set up booths to talk about how they practiced Open Science and we had an amazing turnout!