Introduction Independent 10 researchers are a diverse category of researchers, from those who want to pursue their own path to the ones who are struggling to stay within the competitive world of academia. We define independent researchers broadly as people who conduct research without an institutional affiliation.

On a lively afternoon at the National Open Science Festival in Maastricht, we hosted an interactive session titled "The Barcelona Declaration on Open Research Information – Developments in the Netherlands." Our aim was to jointly explore the challenges surrounding open research information, and brainstorm actionable solutions with a diverse audience of signatories and non-signatories alike.

Since the inception of ChatGPT in late 2022, the question of how AI will change academia is a concern in almost every discipline. Social media and mailing lists alike are flooded with suggestions for new AI-based tools, workflows, or seminars. At the same time, many journal publications now come with some form of AI involvement – from analyzing and interpreting data to the drafting of whole sections.

The 2021 UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science sets out an ambitious vision for transforming research towards making science a global public good. In addition to continued support for the increased openness of research products (publications, data, software), this document foregrounds the transformative potential of open research practices to enhance equity and inclusiveness within global research.

Five years ago, we welcomed you to Leiden Madtrics through our first blog post. With the new blog, we wished to establish an active and engaging platform for our institute and our field to express ourselves – other than through scientific publications.

The Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2025, published today, includes 12 Dutch universities, of which five are ranked in the top 100 worldwide. One prominent Dutch university, Utrecht University, is not included in the ranking. Last year this university decided to discontinue submitting data to the THE World University Rankings.

The release of the first Open Edition of the CWTS Leiden Ranking in January this year triggered an overwhelming response. It was covered by various news media, including Research Professional, AEF info, and TheMetaNews, and was endorsed by important stakeholders such as the International Science Council, the French Committee for Open Science, and the National Agency for Research and Development in Chile.

English version below . Vorige week werd in de Rijksbegroting een halvering van het budget van Open Science NL aangekondigd. Open Science NL, een zogeheten regieorgaan van NWO, heeft als opdracht om de transitie naar open science in Nederland te stimuleren en versnellen, met als doel dat open science de norm wordt.

The 28th International Conference on Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators (STI) 2024 is just around the corner, set to take place in Berlin on 18-20 September!

Over the past decade, a growing number of bibliometric analyses of varying quality have been published in the peer-reviewed literature. Despite this growth, surprisingly few published articles provide guidance on how a bibliometric analysis ought to be reported. Moreover, to our knowledge, these articles have been written based on the opinions/experiences of different researchers, as opposed to best evidence-informed practices.