Open Science may become the next scientific revolution, but still lingers in
a pre-paradigmatic phase, characterised by the lack of established
definitions and domains. Certainly, Open Science requires a new vision of
the way to produce and share scientific knowledge, as well as new skills.
Therefore, education plays a crucial role in supporting this cultural change
along the path of science. This is the basic principle inspiring the collection
of essays published in this issue of JCOM, which deals with many subjects
ranging from open access to the public engagement in scientific research,
from open data to the social function of preprint servers for the physicians’
community. These are issues that go along with the targets of the FOSTER
project (Facilitate Open Science Training for European Research) funded
by the European Union, which has provided interesting food for thought in
order to write this commentary.
