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Open Access: Open Research

This guide introduces Open Access and Open Research. It includes information on open access publishing, methods of open research and how to meet funder open access/research requirements.

What is Open Research?

Open Research, also known as Open Science or Open Scholarship, is a concept that encompasses open access.

"Open Science is the practice of science in such a way that others can collaborate and contribute, where research data, lab notes and other research processes are freely available, under terms that enable reuse, redistribution and reproduction of the research and its underlying data and methods. In a nutshell, Open Science is transparent and accessible knowledge that is shared and developed through collaborative networks" (Vicente-Sáez & Martínez-Fuentes 2018, cited in The Open Science Training Handbook, 2018).

Open Research aims to break down barriers to knowledge and scientific discovery by making all part of the research process open to all. Some benefits of open research include reaching policy makers and practitioners, sharing publicly funded research with the public, increasing impact, promoting rigour and reproducibility, and allowing global equity in access to knowledge.

Examples of Open Research include open access publication, pre-registration, open data, open code, sharing workflows, sharing methodologies, and applying appropriate re-use licenses for others to build on.

Rainbow of Open Science Practices

Open Research Training Courses

The Open Science Training Handbook

The Open Science Training Handbook is a CC0 resource written to support the practical teaching of open science principles. It was written by 14 experts during a book sprint organized by FOSTER and the TIB Hannover in February 2018: "The OSTH is meant to be a living handbook and we are very happy to receive your contributions and feedback about its use in practice, which we will consider while working towards version 2.0." 

LIBER Open Science Roadmap

LIBER's Open Science Roadmap outlines the specific actions libraries can take to champion Open Science, both within and beyond their own institutions (published July 2018)

Open Research & Open Data

UCD Library's Data Management Guide has this section on sharing, preserving and licensing data.

Guidelines for Transparency and Openness Promotion (TOP) in Journal Policies and Practices

Creative Commons license