Open Research (OR) is the practice of research that enables others to collaborate, validate and contribute by removing barriers to results, data, protocols and other aspects of the research process. It concerns extending the principles of openness to the whole research cycle. Open Research is an interchangeable term with 'Open Scholarship' and ‘Open Science’.
Open research is increasingly expected by research funders, and is supported by organisations including UKRI, the Wellcome Trust and the European Commission. It is also of relevance to the general public, who are able to freely read a greater proportion of global research outputs thanks to the open access publishing movement. Central to the OR movement is creating a responsible research environment valuing equality, diversity and inclusion.
The goals of open research are to:
Open research allows us to serve the public interest by:
Watch this short film from the Royal Society for a quick introduction to the principles of open research. It explains what it is, why it's important and the various ways it can be implemented.
The UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science sets out the core values of open research:
Values
An agreed set of guiding principles help uphold these values and make open research a reality.
Open research:
UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science
UKRN Open Research Primer on Working in Open Research
INOSC: International Network of Open Science & Scholarship Communities (osc-international.com)
Turing Way online handbook on Open Research data
OSF Preprints | UKRN Statement on Transparency in Research
Open Science Franework open research platform
Octopus publishing platform
Registered Reports
Questions?
For help on this topic, please contact your Library Research Support Team.