A microscope image which resembles a map of the world
Open Research (sometimes known as Open Science or Open Scholarship) refers to the idea that research should be conducted in ways that are transparent, verifiable, and/or reproducible.
The Open Research movement aims to make academic knowledge accessible to a wider range of audiences and to increase overall transparency and trust in research. Open Research is strongly linked to wider principles of research integrity and research culture.
Since May 2022, the University of Bath has been a member of the UK Reproducibility Network, and as part of this, we’ve committed to investigating factors that contribute to robust research, promoting training and disseminating best practice around transparent and rigorous research.
As an institution, we are committed to improving the integrity and quality of our research. However, in order to do this, we need to understand what factors and practices contribute to poor research transparency and replicability and explore effective approaches to addressing these.
In late 2022, the University Executive Board approved a University-wide 3-year Open Research Action Plan.
As Associate Pro-Vice Chancellor (Research) and Institutional Network Lead for UKRN, Professor Julie Barnett is currently the Chair of the University’s Open Research Steering Group who are overseeing the implementation and delivery of the Open Research action plan. This month, I have invited Professor Barnett to share some updates on the work of the steering group.
Seasons Greetings,
Sarah
Blog: Professor Julie Barnett
The Open Research Steering Group was established in May 2024 and since our first meeting, we’ve been working to deliver the objectives of the University’s Open Research Action Plan.
One of the first tasks for the group was to finalise the report of the University’s Open Research survey which was distributed to staff and students across the University in November 2022. This is now published on the University’s website. It provides a baseline measure of our levels of awareness and engagement in key Open Research practices: open access publishing, pre-registration, pre-prints, and open sharing of data, materials, and code.
It shows that whilst the majority of respondents were aware of Open Research, levels of engagement with open research were much lower, though many said they would be likely to engage with Open Research practices in the future. The report highlights factors which may explain the current gap between awareness and behaviour and provides recommendations for how we can address this. These include identifying incentives for Open Research engagement which recognise different motivations of staff and students, identifying and promoting training opportunities, working to include Open Research in our hiring and promotion criteria, and sharing case studies which showcase examples of Open Research practice amongst our colleagues. Exploring options for including Open Research in hiring and promotion criteria is directly aligned to the objectives of our Research Culture Action Plan. We hope to run the survey again in the 2025/26 academic year to measure our progress in this area.
Alongside the survey report, the Open Research Steering Group have already worked to progress one of the recommendations by sharing case studies from staff and students in our research community. Thank you to those colleagues that have kindly shared their experiences with us. The first few case studies are live on the website – please do take a look - there are more to follow!
The Open Research Steering Group will hold their next meeting in January and we’re excited for everything that 2025 has in store for the world of Open Research! The new year brings the Qualitative Research Symposium 2025 organised by the Centre for Qualitative Research being held right here on campus with the theme of ‘Openness, Transparency and Rigour in Qualitative Research’. This exciting event is running 28th – 29th January 2025 and is led by Dr Annayah Prosser. Registration is now open here!
Shortly afterwards in the Spring, Bath will be hosting the GW4 Open Research Week with a theme of ‘Open Research: Open Culture’. This week-long event will run from 31st March – 4th April 2025 and we look forward to sharing more about the programme in the coming months. Submissions for the accompanying GW4 Open Research Prizes are already open. Researchers, postgraduates, and research enablers across the GW4 universities are strongly encouraged to apply.
Additionally, for researchers that are keen to learn more about making their research more accessible, transparent and rigorous, I would urge you to engage with the Bath Open Research Group. This group meets every month in hybrid format, with a new schedule for 2025. Over the past year, they have been creating resources for researchers to develop specific open research skills and they have exciting plans for the year ahead! To join their mailing list, please contact Luca D Hargitai (Department of Psychology).
I would also encourage you to explore our new webpages where you can find updates, guidance, case studies and links to external resources. If you’d like to know more about Open Research, please get in touch with us via the Secretary to the Open Research Steering Group, Fran Baber (Research Integrity Manager).
Finally, we would love to hear from you if you would be interested in sharing a case study about your own experience of engaging with Open Research. We would welcome examples from staff and students from all Departments and disciplines. With your help, we can help spread the word about the benefits of conducting high quality research with openness, transparency and rigour.
