Mikael Laakso joined the Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences (ITC) as an Associate Professor (tenure track) in Information Studies in August 2024. He has thoroughly enjoyed his time at Tampere University.
“I have received such a warm welcome from both the staff and students. Tampere University is significantly larger than my previous workplace, Hanken School of Economics, with a much larger student population and far more resources and opportunities overall,” Laakso says.
Laakso found the associate professorship available at Tampere University appealing because it aligned perfectly with his area of expertise.
“The position required someone with experience in research on open science and scholarly communication, both of which have been among my primary research interests for more than ten years. In addition, I have many colleagues here who study similar themes,” Laakso says.
Laakso is particularly interested in how scientific knowledge is constructed and communicated, both within the scientific community and to the wider public.
“There are so many fascinating research themes to choose from that I sometimes feel spoiled for choice. Still, it is important to narrow down to a specific research question in each study,” he says.
One aspect of scholarly communication is science communication, which involves sharing research and findings with the general public in an accessible manner, free from complicated jargon.
“Scholarly communication also involves discussing research as an ongoing process. Science does not claim to be the ultimate truth, but it is the best available – albeit not flawless – system for understanding the world,” Laakso points out.
Laakso acknowledges that while it is positive for everyone to have the opportunity to engage with science, it does come with certain risks.
“What is needed is a healthy dose of scepticism. As we all come across research findings, it is important to understand how scholarly knowledge is constructed and recognise that science is a self-correcting process. For instance, peer review does not guarantee that the findings are the absolute truth,” Laakso says.
Covid-19 turbocharged scientific publishing
According to Laakso, the publication of research findings is influenced by a multitude of factors. Laakso cites the fast-track publishing practices adopted during the coronavirus pandemic as an example.
“Following the outbreak, researchers were racing to understand the new virus and the infection and published their findings as preprints without undergoing a peer review. Given the urgency and the many unanswered questions surrounding Covid-19, the standard review process would have taken too long,” Laakso says.
This accelerated pace of publishing has partly persisted, as the demand to release new data more quickly than in our pre-Covid reality has become the norm.
“Researchers are under pressure to push their results out faster than they used to, but a manuscript in the publication pipeline must advance through multiple stages before it is published in a scientific journal,” Laakso says.
Laakso is currently working on a study that explores this theme.
“I am part of a research group that is investigating existing science policies and the guidelines that Finnish universities follow for publishing non-peer-reviewed research papers. Scholarly communication is also influenced by the cultural practices of individual research communities,” Laakso explains.
The many dimensions of open science
In addition to his focus on scholarly communication, Laakso is keenly interested in open science. He explains that open science extends far beyond merely publishing research findings online; it includes a wide range of activities, such as crowdsourcing volunteers to track wildlife for research purposes. What makes open science particularly fascinating for Laakso is its multifaceted nature.
“For example, open science can be examined from the perspective of how the increased demands for openness from funding bodies have affected the transparency of research projects, or by looking at the challenges that researcher face in openly sharing their research data. Many of these research themes are either directly or indirectly related to the accumulation of academic merit and how specific actions are evaluated when applying for research funding or open positions, such as whether open-access data and publications are considered a merit. University rankings can also influence the decisions made about open science at the organisational level. All these perspectives can then be examined at both national and international levels,” he says.
For Laakso, open science is an issue that concerns both the scientific community and the broader society.
“Since research is largely supported by public funding, it is reasonable to argue that the results should be made as publicly and openly accessible as possible,” he concludes.