The global transition to open science is profoundly transforming the production, evaluation and dissemination of scientific knowledge. In this context, transparency, reproducibility and free access become essential principles for both the advancement of science and the promotion of social change. However, specialized areas and non-English-speaking contexts, such as the Brazilian one, still face significant barriers of visibility, limiting international collaboration.
Overcoming such barriers is essential to consolidate the open data culture, mitigate representation gaps and expand the scope of national science. This effort becomes imperative in hearing health, an area of strategic impact recognized as a global priority. According to the World Health Organization’s World Hearing Report, 2.5 billion individuals are projected to live with some degree of hearing loss by 2050. In this context, human communication disorders impose severe repercussions on educational and socioeconomic indicators on a global scale.
WikiLabs Hearing Health
WikiLabs Auditory Health was created as an initiative of the WikiProject Hearing Health and the Audiological Research Centre (USP-CNPq) to articulate actions and address these challenges. The proposal developed in 2025 had as a central theme to promote computational literacy actions and the use of open data among students in the area. The main objective of the project is to increase the visibility of national scientific production and encourage the development of digital skills among future professionals and researchers.
This report presents how the structure and results of WikiLabs Hearing Health demonstrate the potential of open science initiatives to strengthen strategic scientific areas in Brazil through the use of Wikidata. The reported experiment was organized in the context of the funding program WikiApoia 2025 of Wikimedia Brazil named “WikiLab Saúde Auditiva: qualidade e visualização de dados da produção científica brasileira em saúde auditiva no Wikidata“.
Scientific production datathons on Wikidata
To achieve these goals, datathons, collaborative events dedicated to the editing, creation and visualization of data in Wikidata were organized. Students and researchers in Speech Therapy Pathology and Audiology interested in the sciences of hearing and human communication disorders participated.
The activities included introductory training on open bibliographic data, reproducibility in health sciences and information ontologies, focusing on the edition of Brazilian and Latin American scientific publications not yet represented on the platform.
Reducing the knowledge gap
The project allowed to experiment a practical strategy of knowledge gap reduction. The contributions produced by the students concentrated on bibliographic data on Brazilian publications in hearing health. The sources utilized considered academic bases and archives, such as the Diretório de Grupos de Pesquisa do CNPq and the Bibliotecas Digitais da Universidade de São Paulo. Other bibliographic data sources, such as institutional repositories and Brazilian journals, were listed on the initiative’s documentation page.
Examples of data modelling were developed to support the creation of items on articles, books, conference abstracts and theses.
Outcomes
The activities that occurred in collaborative environments of Brazilian universities resulted in more than two thousand editions and 223 new items created in the main domain of Wikidata. All editions were related to the scientific production in hearing health and human communication disorders. It was developed by 41 undergraduate and graduate students and researchers.
The datatona model with Wikidata has also demonstrated potential to influence evidence-based practices by promoting the dissemination of open data and enhancing the use of digital resources in health research. Production data related to activities are available in this report page.
Wikidata as a learning methodology
The use of Wikidata proved to be an active teaching methodology focused on scientific practices and data literacy. The platform allows applying theoretical concepts of open science and metascience, transforming them into data structures that facilitate the understanding of topics such as open licences, digital collaboration and reproducibility. This approach enables participants to visualize the impact of their contributions by connecting theory and practice.
Initiatives such as WikiLabs Hearing Health can encourage educators and institutions to explore the use of Wikidata in their teaching contexts. The adoption of this methodology can be potential to expand the scientific, bibliographic and computational literacy of students and strengthen essential skills for acting in collaborative digital environments.
This proposal serves as an example of activity for literacy based on bibliographic data in Wikidata, possible to integrate educational and scientific practices in open and collaborative model.
Support
This activity was organized with the support of Wikimedia Brazil, through the WikiApoia 2025 program. The WikiLabs Hearing Health project is maintained by the WikiProject Auditory Health, and some of its participants are supported from the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (process no 2024/05572-7) and with the Audiological Research Centre (USP-CNPq).
Can you help us translate this article?
In order for this article to reach as many people as possible we would like your help. Can you translate this article to get the message out?
Start translation