Open Science in Demography

Open science consists of a set of principles and practices that aim “to make multilingual scientific knowledge [...] accessible and reusable for everyone [...] for the benefits of science and society” (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization 2021). While some fields have embraced this movement, demography has been slower to adopt open science practices. Barriers, both real and perceived, have limited the integration of open science into demographic research practices.

Our mission

The EAPS Open Science Working Group aims to change this by fostering a culture where open science becomes the norm rather than the exception in demography. We seek to raise awareness of best practices in open science and provide support for demographers looking to implement them in their work. Through a combination of networking, training, and resource-sharing, we aim to make open science more accessible and practical for the demographic research community.

Join Us!

We are looking for new members to help shape and grow the network! If you are passionate about open science and want to contribute to making demographic research more transparent and accessible, we invite you to get involved. Whether you are an early-career researcher, an established scholar, or a research support technician, your participation can help foster a stronger open science community within demography. Please reach out to eaps.opensci@gmail.com to join the group, get informed, and participate in group activities.

Objectives of this new working group

The objective of this EAPS Working Group is to raise awareness among demographers of current state-of-the-art practices in open science. To achieve this, we plan to:

1. Establish an “EAPS Open Science Network”. The network will be composed of the Steering Committee and, ideally, at least one member from each demographic institution in Europe. The members would be responsible for disseminating valuable information on current open science practices within their institutions, thereby contributing to the adoption of an open science mindset. To join our network, simply send us an email at eaps.opensci@gmail.com

2. Hold recurrent virtual meetings of the EAPS Open Science Network – for example, on a six-month basis – to exchange ideas and set up priorities.

3. Organize hands-on training on current open science practices. These trainings would specifically focus on activities useful for demographic research, such as adopting a reproducible/replicable workflow. Some examples of such trainings are: i) side meetings to be held at each European Population Conference; ii) in-person or virtual workshops; and iii) any other ideas that the network might propose.

4. Recognize open science efforts at European Population Conferences, for example by marking posters that adhere to open science practices with an open science sticker.

5. Hold an in-person side meeting at the next European Population Conference (EPC 2026) 2026 in Bologna, Italy.

SCOPE

All demographic researchers, from any European institute or university that wish to participate in the network.

Steering Committee

Ugofilippo Basellini

Deputy Head of the Laboratory of Population Dynamics and Sustainable Well Being, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR), Germany

Arianna Caporali

Deputy of the French Coordinator for Open Science, French Ministry of Higher Education and Research, France

Olga Grünwald

Data coordinator at the Generations and Gender Programme (GGP), Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI-KNAW), The Netherlands

Tim Riffe

Ikerbasque Research Fellow, University of the Basque Country, Spain