As respect for scientific freedoms and adherence to scientific responsibilities decline around the world, the global scientific community faces significant pressure to address the multiple, intersecting, and existential threats confronting our societies.
In this context, the ISC’s Committee for Freedom and Responsibility in Science held a webinar on 11th June for the ISC network to reflect on how progress on the right to participate in and benefit from science can be advanced, and on its practical significance for scientific, human rights, and policy communities and beyond.
The right to participate in and benefit from science – a suite of rights and obligations often referred to as ‘the right to science’ – remains poorly understood and underdeveloped. The state’s role in upholding this right, in particular, is often neglected, and its implications for scientists and global society are frequently underappreciated. The ISC’s interpretation clarifies what ‘the right to science’ means for the practice of science and the use of the knowledge it generates, framing science as a fundamental part of human culture and firmly situating equitable access to education, the protection of knowledge producers, and the societal benefits of freely and responsibly practiced science as critical components of this right.
The ISC’s interpretation serves as a powerful normative framework, emphasising the need to safeguard freedoms, fulfil responsibilities, and establish limits – all to ensure that scientific progress benefits all. In this way, it complements the ISC’s Principles of Freedom and Responsibility in Science, and aligns strongly with the ISC’s vision of science as a Global Public Good.
You can watch the recording by clicking here.
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Karly Kehoe, Professor of History and Canada Research Chair, Atlantic Canada Communities at Saint Mary’s University
Karly Kehoe moderated the discussion and opened the event by framing the right to science as both historically rooted and urgently relevant today. She reflected on how societies have often taken science and research for granted, and have overlooked the systemic inequities that hinder participation and access. Emphasising that the right to science remains poorly understood and insufficiently implemented, she called for a more inclusive, collective effort to realise its potential. Karly reminded us that as a community “we are far from powerless”.
Amy Kapit, Senior Program Officer for Advocacy, Scholars at Risk (SAR)
Amy Kapit focused on the right to science through the lens of academic freedom as two intersecting frameworks. She outlined the widespread attacks against higher education communities around the world and reiterated that these are increasing in frequency not only in authoritarian regimes but in many democratic countries as well. Amy noted that “attacks on higher education and authoritarianism compound each other”. Attacks are more likely in authoritarian environments, and a weakened higher education system allows authoritarianism to become more entrenched. “This is why attacks in liberal states like the US have to be taken so seriously”.
Read the latest Free to Think Report by Scholars At Risk.
Robert French, Former Chancellor, University of Western Australia (UWA)
Robert French traced the legal and philosophical origins of the right to science, situating the ISC’s interpretation within decades of evolving international human rights instrumentation. He emphasised that the ISC’s interpretation is designed as a tool for advocacy and public engagement—not a substitute for detailed legal frameworks, but a concise gateway to them. Robert stressed the need for countries to adapt and implement ‘the right to science’ based on their own legal and cultural contexts. He further warned that “public trust in science has declined”, and that without broad scientific literacy, the right to science is difficult to realise. “The importance of clear, widespread and persistent advocacy for science as a global public good cannot be understated.”
Salvador Herencia-Carrasco, Professor and member of the Human Rights Research and Education Centre, University of Ottawa
Salvador Herencia-Carrasco brought a legal and Latin American perspective to the discussion, highlighting the invisibility of the right to science in legal practice. “The right to science is grounded on international law. However, there are hardly any cases where attacks against science or scientists are brought as a human rights claim”. He pointed to recent cases in Brazil, Honduras, Argentina and Mexico, where attacks on scientific communities were framed as political or environmental issues rather than as human rights violations. He welcomed the ISC’s interpretation as a critical step forward but emphasised the need for legal scholars to work alongside scientists. “The right to science is not a standalone right,” he explained, “but it must be used as a lens to frame how other rights and international obligations… are being affected”.
Geoffrey Boulton, ISC Governing Board Member, Regius Professor Emeritus at University of Edinburgh
Geoffrey Boulton argued that the right to science will remain unrealised unless scientific knowledge is treated as a true global public good – that is, it becomes freely available to all. He warned that the current scientific publishing system commodifies publicly funded research behind paywalls, creating a barrier to equitable access, and that the spread of fraudulent science through predatory journals diminishes access to reliable information. Equitable access to reliable scientific knowledge, he maintained, is foundational to any meaningful interpretation of the right to science. “Unless science becomes a public good, the right to science remains nebulous.”
Read the ISC’s Key Principles for Scientific Publishing
This webinar aimed to raise awareness of the ISC’s work around the ‘right to science’ as much as to gain feedback and to identify priority concerns from our members. Please share your thoughts on the ISC’s interpretation of the right to participate in and benefit from science by completing the Questionnaire on our project page.
The Right to Participate in and Benefit from Science
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DownloadTo learn more about our interpretation please visit our range of expert blogs, which explore its development and implications in more detail:
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Read more about The Right to Participate in and Benefit from Science 
Read more about Freedom and responsibility in science 
Read more about Science without borders: International collaboration for the next generation of researchers 
Read more about Steering Group appointed to guide the ISC Social Science Matters Programme 
Read more about Get involved in the 5th International Polar Year 
