by Collin Brice, Ph.D., CCC-SLP<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Collin Brice, Ph.D., CCC-SLP graduated from the University of Cincinnati in August of this year. He is a speech-language pathologist and an assistant professor at the University of Scranton in Scranton, Pennsylvania in the Occupational Therapy and Communication Sciences and Disorders department. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
After five years of practicing as a speech-language pathologist, I applied to a PhD program out of frustration with what I still didn’t know about my field. While I am grateful for the experience and the career I chose, it wasn’t until I heard about open science that I realized what I didn’t know may have simply been hiding behind a paywall. Part of open science involves open access, a practice that makes research available without a subscription to a database or journal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Open access appealed to me from both sides of my career. As a citizen of the United States and a practicing clinician, I found it compelling that the science my tax dollars fund can (and should!) be freely accessible to me. As a budding researcher, I found it equally compelling that whoever wants to read or interact with my hard work should be free to do so. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It wasn’t until diving in a bit more that I realized open science doesn’t just make research accessible; it also holds researchers accountable. Practices like preregistration, for example, ask you to commit to your plan publicly before collecting any data. To come up with a research idea as a PhD student is one thing; to commit to and describe every detail of my study before it begins is another. That commitment felt daunting at first, but I wasn’t starting from scratch. Because others had shared their work openly, I was able to find similar experimental designs, templates to plan and justify every step of my data organization and analysis, and even open educational resources so that I did not have to reinvent the wheel for every course I teach. As a new student and now a new professor, I still find these resources invaluable, and they’ve shaped how I see my role in the field. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The world of science and education is changing, and the demands on those of us in these roles keep growing. Open science reminds me that we are a community who can share the burdens of academia together, build on the foundations others have laid, and make our commitment to science more than a single ripple. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Collin Brice, Ph.D., CCC-SLP Collin Brice, Ph.D., CCC-SLP graduated from the University of Cincinnati in August of this year. He is a speech-language pathologist and an assistant professor at the University of Scranton in Scranton, Pennsylvania in the Occupational … Continue reading