Pack Your Curiosity: A Travel Guide to Open Science Land  

What if navigating the world of open science felt less like reading a policy document and more like planning an adventure? Expedition Open Science Land, published by ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, does exactly that, transforming one of research’s most important movements into an inviting journey through a richly imagined landscape.

Written by an interdisciplinary team of business researchers, psychologists, and science communicators, Marko Sarstedt, Doreen Siegfried, Meikel Neumann, Susanne J. Adler, Oliver Genschow, and Monika Imschloss, this beautifully illustrated travel guide reimagines open science as a destination worth exploring, not a mandate to be endured.

The book charts three central regions of Open Science Land: Planning, where research questions and methods take shape; Documentation, the heartland of transparency and reproducibility; and Dissemination, the bustling metropolis where knowledge flows freely beyond paywalls. Along the way, readers visit landmarks such as the Grand Hotel Registrarium, the Replication Arena, and the Open Access Library, each a witty, memorable portal into real open science practice.

As the authors themselves put it, this is “not a precise map of Open Science Land, but rather an abstract and playful portrayal, designed to be read with a wink and curiosity.” True to that spirit, the guide dismantles ten persistent myths from the fear of being scooped to the misconception that open access means lower quality replacing anxiety with clarity.

Whether you are a doctoral student taking your first steps, an experienced researcher seeking fresh routes, or an educator guiding others, this guide offers both practical orientation and genuine inspiration. Pair it with the companion resources at expedition-open-science.org, and you have everything you need for the journey.

Open science is not a detour. It is the destination.

Get your copy in English or German – and best of all, it’s free!