Opening Access, Virtual, Distributed Lab Edition

Welcome to Open Access Week 2021! This year's theme is building structural equity. In the Orthogonal Research and Education Lab and the DevoWorm group, this has been an ongoing priority: from the recruitment of scholars to the production and engagement with research. This week we will highlight some of the ways we open up the research process, and how this is the only way the principles of open access (Figure 1) can be fully realized.

Figure 1. From the short film "What is Open Access" (PhD Comics, 2012).

One thing that enables Open Access is an open collaboration structure. Both Orthogonal Lab and DevoWorm are based on a virtual, distributed framework. People can join in and collaborate as long as they have an internet connection and the initiative to work on a related problem. The communication structure is likewise flexible: you can join in our weekly meetings, participate in our Slack channels or Github teams, or join in on a collaborative doc. We also sponsor or participate in various open educational initiatives. Two of these are Google Summer of Code and Neuromatch Academy.

Figure 2. The global reach (physical and virtual) of the Orthogonal Lab.

This brings together participants from multiple continents and research specialties, while also enabling students, professional academics, and lifelong learners to collaborate in ways large and small. We participate in the academic community through virtual and hybrid conferences, peer-reviewed publication venues, book chapters, and preprints. Self-publication platforms (blogging platforms) and social media are also good for advancing fledgling ideas and chronicling progress. Along with an emphasis on open code and data, these venues are utilized to maximize access and reusability.

More recently, we have been focusing on the role of professional development in enabling the virtual, distributed research process. As many of our contributors aspire to further their research careers through participation, we have become more active in cultivating an individual's research agenda. Between active recruitment of participants and enabling them to take ownership of a research topic, we can contribute to greater equity and diversity in the research enterprise.

            

Finally, our Open Access agenda includes an interdisciplinary focus, as both Orthogonal Lab and DevoWorm engage individuals from a variety of different backgrounds. There is an intentionality towards enabling interdisciplinary skillsets, as well as a focus on providing individuals space to pursue these connections between traditional disciplines. For more information on how these components work to form a virtual, distributed lab, see our preprint "Building a Distributed Virtual Laboratory Adjacent to Academia". 

While there are still many administrative and functional barriers to pursuing this as a full-fledged research organization on par with a large corporation or University, this is a unique and emergent way of opening access. If you would like to participate, please contact us. Additionally, be sure to check out the #OAWeek hashtag for this blog (Synthetic Daisies), as we have content going back to 2016 on a variety of topics.