# Ethical Challenges and Opportunities at the Intersection of One Health and Open Science in India: A Scoping Review

## TL;DR

This review explores how open science can support one health in India by identifying challenges and opportunities in data sharing and collaboration.

## Contribution

The study provides a scoping review of ethical challenges and opportunities at the intersection of one health and open science in India.

## Key findings

- Key challenges include barriers to cross-sector collaboration and data sharing.
- Opportunities for advancing one health include improved data sharing techniques and enhanced collaboration.
- Institutional and national-level issues like weak inter-ministerial collaboration were identified.

## Abstract

Open Science (OS) aims at accelerating responsible scientific research, promoting transparency in data sharing, and ensuring that data is accessible to all citizens. On the other hand, One Health (OH), an interdisciplinary field addressing outbreaks of zoonotic infectious diseases, relies heavily on data sharing. Considering the current emphasis on OS practices, it is crucial to identify the challenges associated with practicing OS within the multi-sectoral framework of OH. This scoping review explores how OS principles intersect with issues of data ownership, privacy, and participation within India’s multi-sectoral OH research ecosystem.

This study aims to identify the potential challenges and opportunities at the interfaces of OH, OS, society, and policy.

We conducted a scoping review, adhering to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines. We searched PubMed, Web of Science, Embase (OVID), MEDLINE (OVID), and Global Health to identify the articles. We included original articles and policy briefs on OS, Citizen Science, and OH published between 2013 and 2023. The protocol was preregistered in the Open Science Framework (OSF).

A total of 46 studies met the inclusion criteria. We reviewed 33 original articles, 4 perspectives, 2 commentaries, 2 case studies, 2 policy briefs, 2 protocols, and 1 case report. Key challenges include barriers to cross-sector collaboration, data sharing, weak inter-ministerial collaboration, and challenges in Citizen Science. The study also highlights significant opportunities for advancing OH through improved data sharing techniques, and enhanced collaborative efforts.

Addressing these challenges and opportunities may foster effective collaboration, ethical data sharing in OH. These strategies are crucial for advancing OH framework and improving health at the human-animal-environment interface in India and other low-and middle-income countries. This review underscores the importance of integrating OS for the sustainable development of OH initiatives in these settings.

Open Science (OS) aims to make scientific research accessible to everyone by making data and research processes transparent and easily available. This way, even the citizens can understand and use scientific information. OS practices also allow researchers to share their findings early on, which can inspire new ideas and collaborations, and when combined with citizen science, it has the potential to transform how we approach the One Health (OH) concept. OH is a unified approach that aims to balance the health of human beings, animals and the environment. It requires the collaboration of multiple stakeholders including epidemiologists, veterinarians, environmental scientists, and policymakers. But the road to the OH framework is riddled with challenges, such as a lack of policies and institutional capacities.

We conducted a scoping review aimed at exploring the challenges and opportunities in OH research in the realm of OS in India. The review was carried out over eight months (October 2023 to May 2024). We searched multiple databases like PubMed and Web of Science to identify relevant studies, and screened articles using Covidence, a web-based tool.

Our findings are grouped into two main themes: challenges and opportunities in implementing OH within OS. We identified several challenges at both institutional and national levels, including issues in collaboration, data sharing, and engaging veterinarians and citizen scientists. Understanding these challenges and opportunities is crucial for promoting effective collaboration and improving health outcomes in India and other low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).