Sessions

This session reconsiders how scholarly integrity can be rebuilt through digitalization and open science. These developments are driven by reflection on past irresponsible research practices and by the growing interaction between academic communities and societies in democratic contexts. At the same time, they have enabled new research practices such as citizen science, big data analysis, and collaboration with AI. By providing an overview of a research ecosystem undergoing major transformation in both technology and ideas, this session explores ways to enhance the cumulative nature of research while meeting contemporary standards of fairness and integrity. The session will feature four speakers. Yui Arimatsu will discuss challenges facing the Japanese humanities through international comparisons in the academic and inter-governmental contexts. While the Science Council of Japan has identified inadequate research data management as a form of misconduct, institutionalization remains a challenge. Eiri Ono will address this issue based on his work in research data management at a university. Sakiko Kawabe will introduce the concept of “loose preservation” through examples of digitalization and community collaboration in cultural heritage preservation. Finally, Kohei Tamura will present perspectives on digitalization and openness at the Center for Northeast Asian Studies and on reconstructing the research ecosystem in human history studies. We hope this session will contribute to renewed reflection on scholarly integrity and the relationship between academic communities and societies.

Planetary-scale environmental changes—including tectonic activity, climatic oscillations, and meteorite impacts—have driven extinction, adaptation, and the diversification of life throughout Earth’s history. In human history as well, climate change, major volcanic and seismic events, and the environmental disruptions and regional fragmentations they induced have shaped cultural trajectories. Life has constituted the material foundation of human societies, while cultural change has, in turn, influenced surrounding ecosystems and the Earth system itself. This session approaches changes in the Earth, in life, and in human societies and cultures from the perspective of “evolution.” By examining evolutionary processes operating at multiple temporal scales across these distinct domains, we aim to elucidate the interwoven relationships linking the Earth, life, humanity, and culture.