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One term, multiple definitions – the same is true in the realm of science. With his glossary, Flávio Azevedo of the FORRT initiative intends to provide more clarity. We spoke with him about this idea and why it is so important in the era of Open Science.
Under your leadership, the international FORRT community has published a glossary of scientific terms that are often misunderstood or used incorrectly. How did this come about?
Flávio Azevedo: Within “Open Science”, scientific knowledge will become openly accessible, transparent and reproducible in order to promote multidisciplinary cooperation. Here, professional terminology can have a different meaning in one area of research than in another. Words with a historical meaning may, in certain contexts, refer to something completely different or change over time. With the glossary, we aim to study and understand these differences and present them in a transparent manner.
Whether in everyday science, in teaching or within the context of the broader public: what are the problems that could arise from different interpretations of words?
Open Science has revolutionized the way in which we share research projects and processes with others. Consequently, these changes have increased the ambiguity of terminology, which creates barriers to effective understanding – among researchers within different disciplines as well as between experts and lay people. This is exactly where the FORRT glossary comes in: we want to remove such barriers in order to include as many people as possible. I am thinking of early-career scholars, but also stakeholders in industry and researchers from disadvantaged countries.
Can you give us some examples of terms with different meanings.
For example, in the social sciences, the term “pre-registration” refers to a time-stamped version of a research protocol which cannot be edited. In contrast, in healthcare fields, it refers to advance registration into an accelerated course that qualifies students to fast-track into a medical profession. Another example: in the field of economics, “creative destruction” refers to the continuous restructuring of an economy through the replacement of old technologies, sectors and companies with new ones. In psychology research, this term appears in connection with the reproducibility of studies. If the results of one group are not only confirmed by another group, but also enriched through additional findings, we speak of “creative destruction”. These are only two examples when in fact there are hundreds.
To date, you have defined and classified more than 250 of the most common terms and abbreviations from the world of science. How did you and your team go about this?
First, we created a list of terms with a concise definition, related terms and any applicable alternative definitions. By the way, this first glossary was developed using a crowd-sourced methodology, with the involvement of over 100 contributors at various career stages and from a diverse range of disciplines, for example, psychology, economics, neuroscience, and also linguistics. In a second step, we invited additional scientists through social media and organizations such as “ReproducibiliTea” to participate in the project. We suggested new terms for which the contributors were asked to suggest main definitions as well as alternatives. They were also asked to once again review the definitions and alternatives already proofed and edited to date.
How does one manage to agree on definitions given the large number of contributors?We consider definitions to be ready for dissemination when they have been reviewed by a sufficient number of contributors (typically five or more), and when consensus has been reached. Throughout this process, our common focus is deliberately centered around the open scholarship ethos – aiming to make scientific work and knowledge openly accessible and thus enable diversity, equity, inclusion and much more. With success: our glossary is being used by many, many Open Science stakeholders and the public, and it is an inspiration for many more glossary initiatives. At the same time, our work is of course open and freely available to everyone.
You are encouraging all those interested to collaborate. How can one participate?We are indeed far from finished! Everyone is invited to improve and expand the glossary. We are also in the process of translating terms and their definitions into different languages to improve accessibility. To this end, we have opened four “live” working documents on our website which are open to contributions by the community. Those interested are also invited to join our FORRT Slack channel (see “Get Involved” at the top of our webpage). We look forward to keen participation!
Flávio Azevedo: Within “Open Science”, scientific knowledge will become openly accessible, transparent and reproducible in order to promote multidisciplinary cooperation. Here, professional terminology can have a different meaning in one area of research than in another. Words with a historical meaning may, in certain contexts, refer to something completely different or change over time. With the glossary, we aim to study and understand these differences and present them in a transparent manner.
Whether in everyday science, in teaching or within the context of the broader public: what are the problems that could arise from different interpretations of words?
Open Science has revolutionized the way in which we share research projects and processes with others. Consequently, these changes have increased the ambiguity of terminology, which creates barriers to effective understanding – among researchers within different disciplines as well as between experts and lay people. This is exactly where the FORRT glossary comes in: we want to remove such barriers in order to include as many people as possible. I am thinking of early-career scholars, but also stakeholders in industry and researchers from disadvantaged countries.
Can you give us some examples of terms with different meanings.
For example, in the social sciences, the term “pre-registration” refers to a time-stamped version of a research protocol which cannot be edited. In contrast, in healthcare fields, it refers to advance registration into an accelerated course that qualifies students to fast-track into a medical profession. Another example: in the field of economics, “creative destruction” refers to the continuous restructuring of an economy through the replacement of old technologies, sectors and companies with new ones. In psychology research, this term appears in connection with the reproducibility of studies. If the results of one group are not only confirmed by another group, but also enriched through additional findings, we speak of “creative destruction”. These are only two examples when in fact there are hundreds.
To date, you have defined and classified more than 250 of the most common terms and abbreviations from the world of science. How did you and your team go about this?
First, we created a list of terms with a concise definition, related terms and any applicable alternative definitions. By the way, this first glossary was developed using a crowd-sourced methodology, with the involvement of over 100 contributors at various career stages and from a diverse range of disciplines, for example, psychology, economics, neuroscience, and also linguistics. In a second step, we invited additional scientists through social media and organizations such as “ReproducibiliTea” to participate in the project. We suggested new terms for which the contributors were asked to suggest main definitions as well as alternatives. They were also asked to once again review the definitions and alternatives already proofed and edited to date.
How does one manage to agree on definitions given the large number of contributors?We consider definitions to be ready for dissemination when they have been reviewed by a sufficient number of contributors (typically five or more), and when consensus has been reached. Throughout this process, our common focus is deliberately centered around the open scholarship ethos – aiming to make scientific work and knowledge openly accessible and thus enable diversity, equity, inclusion and much more. With success: our glossary is being used by many, many Open Science stakeholders and the public, and it is an inspiration for many more glossary initiatives. At the same time, our work is of course open and freely available to everyone.
You are encouraging all those interested to collaborate. How can one participate?We are indeed far from finished! Everyone is invited to improve and expand the glossary. We are also in the process of translating terms and their definitions into different languages to improve accessibility. To this end, we have opened four “live” working documents on our website which are open to contributions by the community. Those interested are also invited to join our FORRT Slack channel (see “Get Involved” at the top of our webpage). We look forward to keen participation!
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