Universal Mandates vs. Contextual Realities: A Scoping Review of Ethical Tensions and Power Asymmetries in Global Open Science
References
- Albuquerque, U.P., Alves, R.R.N. and Ferreira Júnior, W.S. (2025) ‘The contemporary challenge for ethical research involving the knowledge of indigenous peoples and local communities and afro-descendants and other marginalized, minority, or minoritized groups’, Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 21(1), p. 29. Available at: 10.1186/s13002-025-00774-4
- ASReview (2025) Join the movement towards fast, open, and transparent systematic reviews. Available at:
https://asreview.nl/ - Avuglah, B.K., Owusu-Ansah, C.M., Tachie-Donkor, G. and Yeboah, E.B. (2020) ‘Privacy issues in libraries with online services: Attitudes and concerns of academic librarians and university students in Ghana’, College & Research Libraries, 81(6), pp. 997–1019. Available at: 10.5860/crl.81.6.997
- Bailey, C.W.
Jr. (2025) Advancing equity and inclusion in scholarly communication: Findings from the consultation on a global diamond open access framework. DigitalKoans. Available at:https://tinyurl.com/mpreznnd - Cantrell, M.H. and Wipperman, S. (2023) ‘Open access author contracts and alignment with the open ethos: A global study’, College & Research Libraries, 84(4), pp. 605–625. Available at: 10.5860/crl.84.4.605
- Carroll, S.R., Herczog, E., Hudson, M., Russell, K. and Stall, S. (2021) ‘Operationalizing the CARE and FAIR Principles for Indigenous data futures’, Scientific Data, 8(1), p. 108. Available at: 10.1038/s41597-021-00892-0
- Cavalli, N. (ed.). (2025) Current trends in open science. Milan: Ledizioni-Ledipublishing. Available at:
https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/99339 - Cocq, C. (2023) ‘Open science in Sámi research: Researchers’ dilemmas’, Frontiers in Research Metrics and Analytics, 8, 1095169. 10.3389/frma.2023.1095169
- Cohen, A.J., Patino, G., Kamal, P., Ndoye, M., Tresh, A., Mena, J., Butler, C., Washington, S. and Breyer, B. N. (2019). ‘Perspectives from authors and editors in the biomedical disciplines on predatory journals: Survey study’, Journal of Medical Internet Research, 21(8), p.
e13769 . 10.2196/13769 - Critical Appraisal Skills Programme. (2025). “CASP checklists.”
https://casp-uk.net/casp-tools-checklists/ - DeSanto, D. (2023) ‘Carrots and sticks: A qualitative study of library responses to the UK’s Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021 open access policy’, College & Research Libraries, 84(3), pp. 315–334. Available at: 10.5860/crl.84.3.315
- Dube, T.V. (2025) ‘Research data management in academic libraries: Institutional repositories as a reservoir for research data’, Library Management, 46(5), pp. 319–331. Available at: 10.1108/LM-06-2024-0070
- Dutta, M.J., Ramasubramanian, S., Barrett, M., Elers, C., Sarwatay, D., Raghunath, P., Kaur, S., Dutta, D., Jayan, P., Rahman, M., Tallam, E., Roy, S., Falnikar, A., Johnson, G.M., Mandal, I., Dutta, U., Basnyat, I., Soriano, C., Pavarala, V., Sreekumar, T.T., Ganesh, S., Pandi, A.S. and Zapata, D. (2021) ‘Decolonizing Open Science: Southern Interventions’, Journal of Communication, 71(5), pp. 803–826. Available at: 10.1093/joc/jqab027
- Düwell, M. (2019) ‘Editorial: Open science and ethics’, Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, 22, pp. 1051–1053. Available at: 10.1007/s10677-019-10053-3
- Ewuoso, C., Cordeiro-Rodrigues, L., Wonkam, A. and de Vries, J. (2023) ‘Addressing exploitation and inequities in open science: A relational perspective’, Developing World Bioethics, 23, pp. 331–343. Available at: 10.1111/dewb.12378
- Fecher, B. and Friesike, S. (2014)
‘Open science: One term, five schools of thought’ , in S. Bartling and S. Friesike (eds.) Opening science. Cham: Springer. pp. 17–47. Available at: 10.1007/978-3-319-00026-8_2 - Fox, J., Pearce, K.E., Massanari, A.L., Riles, J.M., Szulc, Ł., Ranjit, Y.S., Trevisan, F., Soriano, C.R.R., Vitak, J., Arora, P., Ahn, S.J., Alper, M., Gambino, A., Gonzalez, C., Lynch, T., Williamson, L.D., and Gonzales, A.L. (2021) ‘Open science, closed doors? Countering marginalization through an agenda for ethical inclusive research in communication’, Journal of Communication, 71(5), pp. 764–784. Available at: 10.1093/joc/jqab029
- Giannelos, K., Reber, B. and Doorn, N. (2022) Responsive ethics and participation: Science, technology and democracy. London: Wiley-ISTE. Available at: 10.1002/9781394165452
- Hadad, S. and Aharony, N. (2024) “Librarians and academic libraries’ role in promoting open access: What needs to change?’ College & Research Libraries, 85(4), p. 464. Available at: 10.5860/crl.85.4.464
- Harrington, C. and Scott, R.E. (2023) ‘Intersections of open access and information privilege in higher education and beyond’, NASIG Proceedings, 37. Available at: 10.3998/nasig.4302
- Haven, T., Gopalakrishna, G., Tijdink, J., van der Schoet, D. and Bouter, L. (2022) ‘Promoting trust in research and researchers: How open science and research integrity are intertwined’, BMC Research Notes, 15, p. 302. Available at: 10.1186/s13104-022-06169-y
- Heaton, R., Burns, D. and Thoms, B. (2019) ‘Altruism or self-interest? Exploring the motivations of open access authors’, College & Research Libraries, 80(4), pp. 485–507. Available at: 10.5860/crl.80.4.485
- Hofmann, B. (2022) ‘Open science knowledge production: Addressing epistemological challenges and ethical implications’, Publications, 10(3), p. 24. Available at: 10.3390/publications10030024
- Hosseini, M., Senabre Hidalgo, E., Horbach, S.P.J.M., Güttinger, S. and Penders, B. (2022) ‘Messing with Merton: The intersection between open science practices and Mertonian values’, Accountability in Research, 31(5), pp. 428–455. Available at: 10.1080/08989621.2022.2141625
- Kankam, P.K., Acheampong, L.D. and Dei, D.J. (2024) ‘Dissemination of scientific information through open access by research scientists in a developing country’, Heliyon, 10(7), p.
e28605 . Available at: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e28605 - Keeler, A., ElHawary, H., Tuen, Y.J., Courtemanche, R., Gilardino, M.S. and Arneja, J.S. (2024) ‘The presence of predatory and open access journal publications among Canadian plastic surgery residency applicants’, Plastic Surgery, 34(1), pp. 146–152. Available at: 10.1177/22925503241300336
- Khalil, A.T., Shinwari, Z.K. and Islam, A. (2022) ‘Fostering openness in open science: An ethical discussion of risks and benefits’, Frontiers in Political Science, 4, p. 930574. Available at: 10.3389/fpos.2022.930574
- Kingsley, D., Kennan, M.A. and Richardson, J. (2022) ‘Scholarly communication competencies: An analysis of confidence among Australasia library staff’, College & Research Libraries, 83(6), pp. 969–999. Available at: 10.5860/crl.83.6.966
- Kodua-Ntim, K. (2024) ‘Author self-archiving in open access institutional repositories for awareness creation in universities’, Cogent Social Sciences, 10(1). Available at: 10.1080/23311886.2024.2364385
- Kraft, S.A. and Mittendorf, K.F. (2024) ‘Can open science advance health justice? Genomic research dissemination in the evolving data-sharing landscape’, Hastings Center Report, 54(6), pp. 46–56. Available at: 10.1002/hast.4932
- Kvale, L.H., Pharo, N. and Darch, P. (2023) ‘Sharing qualitative interview data in dialogue with research participants’, Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 60(1), pp. 223–232. Available at: 10.1002/pra2.783
- Laakso, M. and Polonioli, A. (2018) ‘Open access in ethics research: An analysis of open access availability and author self-archiving behaviour in light of journal copyright restrictions’, Scientometrics, 116(1), pp. 291–317. Available at: 10.1007/s11192-018-2751-5
- Leonelli, S. (2022) ‘Open science and epistemic diversity: Friends or foes?’ Philosophy of Science, 89(5), pp. 991–1001. Available at: 10.1017/psa.2022.45
- Li, M., Gao, Q. and Yu, T. (2023) ‘Kappa statistic considerations in evaluating inter-rater reliability between two raters: Which, when and context matters’, BMC Cancer, 23(1), p. 799. Available at: 10.1186/s12885-023-11325-z
- Lilja, E. (2025) ‘Responsibility dynamics in open science: Exploring researchers’ framing of ethical considerations in policy implementation’, Science and Public Policy, 52(1), pp. 127–137. Available at: 10.1093/scipol/scaf021
- Lindemann, T. and Häberlein, L. (2023) ‘Contours of a research ethics and integrity perspective on open science’, Frontiers in Research Metrics and Analytics, 8, p. 1052353. Available at: 10.3389/frma.2023.1052353
- Manca, A., Martinez, G., Cugusi, L., Dragone, D., Dvir, Z. and Deriu, F. (2017) ‘The surge of predatory open-access in neurosciences and neurology’, Neuroscience, 353, pp. 166–173. Available at: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2017.04.014
- Mbughuni, A.S., Mtega, W.P. and Malekani, A.W. (2024) ‘Self-archiving of scholarly publications for improved access to local content in Tanzania: A study of open access institutional repositories in universities in Tanzania’, Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 56(3), pp. 581–593. Available at: 10.1177/09610006231155182
- McHugh, M.L. (2012) ‘Interrater reliability: the kappa statistic’, Biochemia Medica, 22(3), pp. 276–282. Available at:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3900052/ - Nazim, M., Bhardwaj, R.K., Agrawal, A. and Bano, A. (2023) ‘Open access publishing in India: Trends and policy perspectives’, Global Knowledge, Memory and Communication, 72(4–5), pp. 437–451. Available at: 10.1108/GKMC-09-2021-0158
- Panda, S. and Hasan, S. (2023) ‘Exploring the intersection of electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) and open science in the 21st century library science landscape through analysis of OATD.org’, in J.P.S. Joorel (ed.) Enriching ETDs and their reach: Proceedings of the 26th International Symposium on Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETD 2023). Gandhinagar:
INFLIBNET Centre . pp. 217–232. Available at:https://ssrn.com/abstract=4621598 - Raju, R. and Badrudeen, A. (2022) ‘Social justice driving open access publishing: An African perspective’, The Journal of Electronic Publishing, 25(1). Available at: 10.3998/jep.1910
- Raju, R., Claassen, J. and De Lillie, K. (2023) ‘Social justice: The golden thread in the openness movement’, Publications, 11(3), p. 36. Available at: 10.3390/publications11030036
- Rayyan (2025) Faster systematic reviews. Available at:
https://www.rayyan.ai/ - Resnik, D.B. (2023) ‘Openness in scientific research: A historical and philosophical perspective’, Journal of Open Access to Law, 11(1), pp. 1–16. Available at: 10.63567/t32qgs15
- Resnik, D.B. and Elmore, S.A. (2016) ‘Ensuring the quality, fairness, and integrity of journal peer review: A possible role of editors’, Science and Engineering Ethics, 22(1), pp. 169–188. Available at: 10.1007/s11948-015-9625-5
- Rodgers, W. (2018) ‘Buy, borrow, or steal? Film access for film studies students’, College & Research Libraries, 79(4), pp. 568–591. Available at: 10.5860/crl.79.4.568
- Schöpfel, J., Azeroual, O. and de Castro, P. (2022) ‘Research information systems and ethics relating to open science’, Procedia Computer Science, 211, pp. 36–46. Available at: 10.1016/j.procs.2022.10.174
- Shaw, L.C., Errington, T.M., and Mellor, D.T. (2022) ‘Toward open science: Contributing to research culture change’, Science Editor, 45(1), pp. 14–17. Available at: 10.36591/SE-D-4501-14
- Shen, C. and Björk, B.C. (2015) ‘“Predatory” open access: A longitudinal study of article volumes and market characteristics’, BMC Medicine, 13, Article 230. Available at: 10.1186/s12916-015-0469-2
- Simm, K. and Eigi-Watkin, J. (2024) ‘Diverse sources of normativity in open science and their implications for ethical governance’, Royal Society Open Science, 11(240480), 240480. Available at: 10.1098/rsos.240480
- Strinzel, M., Severin, A., Milzow, K. and Egger, M. (2019) ‘Blacklists and whitelists to tackle predatory publishing: A cross-sectional comparison and thematic analysis’, mBio, 10(3), p.
e00411-19 . Available at: 10.1128/mBio.00411-19 - Tricco, A.C., Lillie, E., Zarin, W., O’Brien, K.K., Colquhoun, H., Levac, D., Moher, D., Peters, M.D.J., Horsley, T., Weeks, L., Hempel, S., Akl, E.A., Chang, C., McGowan, J., Stewart, L., Hartling, L., Aldcroft, A., Wilson, M.G., Garrity, C., Lewin, S., Godfrey, C.M., Macdonald, M.T., Langlois, E.V., Soares-Weiser, K., Moriarty, J., Clifford, T., Tunçalp, Ö. and Straus, S.E. (2018) ‘PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR): Checklist and explanation’, Annals of Internal Medicine, 169(7), pp. 467–473. Available at: 10.7326/M18-0850
- Uddin, S., Liang, H. and Guo, H. (2026) ‘Gender-based data bias and model fairness evaluation in benchmarked open-access disease prediction datasets’, Computers in Biology and Medicine, 203, Article 111503. Available at: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2026.111503
- United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) (2021) Recommendation on Open Science. UNESCO. Available at:
https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000379949 - Walter, M., Lovett, R., Maher, B., Williamson, B., Prehn, J., Bodkin-Andrews, G. and Lee, V. (2021) ‘Indigenous data sovereignty in the era of big data and open data’, Australian Journal of Social Issues, 56(2), pp. 143–156. Available at: 10.1002/ajs4.141
- Waltman, L., Pinfield, S., Rzayeva, N., Henriques, S.O., Fang, Z., Brumberg, J., Greaves, S., Hurst, P., Collings, A., Heinrichs, A., Lindsay, N., MacCallum, C.J., Morgan, D., Sansone, S.-A. and Swaminathan, S. (2021) ‘Scholarly communication in times of crisis: The response of the scholarly communication system to the COVID-19 pandemic’, Research on Research Institute. Available at: 10.6084/m9.figshare.17125394.v1
- Williams, T. and Hardison, P. (2013) ‘Culture, law, risk and governance: Contexts of traditional knowledge in climate change adaptation’, Climatic Change, 120, pp. 531–544. Available at: 10.1007/s10584-013-0850-0
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/dsj-2026-021 | Journal eISSN: 1683-1470
Language: English
Page range: 21 - 21
Submitted on: Mar 13, 2026
Accepted on: Jun 2, 2026
Published on: Jun 15, 2026
Published by: Ubiquity Press
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 1 issue per year
Keywords:
© 2026 Mthokozisi Masumbika Ncube, Josiline Chigwada, Patrick Ngulube, published by Ubiquity Press
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.