Open research – how do you do it?

About open research

Open research, or open science, two overlapping concepts, refers to free and unrestricted access to research processes and the results of research, artistic development work, and educational activities.

Open research is an umbrella term that covers a wide range of ways to open up processes, methods, tools, and results in research.

• Detailed description of open research on OpenScience.no

Requirements and guidelines

Open research is included in various strategies and guidelines for research. The Research Council of Norway has a policy on open research, and INN has principles for open science:

• INN's open science policy
• The Research Council's policy for open research
• EUs Open Science Policy
  • How to comply with Horizon Europe mandate for publications

Assessment in applications to the Research Council

Open research has been established as an evaluation criteria in applications for the EU's Horizon Europe and the Research Council’s 'Forskerprosjekt' (Researcher project) and 'Kompetanse- og samarbeidsprosjekt' (Competence and collaboration Project).

• Research Council: Assessment of open research in applications
• EU Horizon Europe: Open science and the proposal application

We have created a document with suggestions for various formulations that can be used in applications to describe planned open research practices:

• Open Science in NFR Proposals – text examples (for INN employees)

Examples of open research practice

FAIR and Open Access

The Research Council and Horizon Europe mention examples of how you can practise open research: making research data FAIR, early sharing through preregistration and preprints, open access to software, workflows, tools, etc.

• Open Access
• Open and FAIR research data

Early sharing

Two examples of early sharing in research are preregistering studies and/or sharing preprints of research results.

Preregistration, or advance registration, involves outlining in advance which hypotheses will be tested, how data will be collected, and how analyses will be performed, and then registering this on a dedicated website, such as the Open Science Frame Work

A preprint, or submitted manuscript, is the version of an article that is first submitted to a journal for publication but has not yet undergone peer review. Early sharing of preprints can take place through self-archiving in digital repositories or by publishing in open-access journals or publishing platforms.

Arguments in favour of early sharing of preprints and preregistrations include ensuring the rapid dissemination of planned research and research findings in a more transparent, inclusive, and ethically rigorous manner. Early sharing can also protect the rights to new discoveries and ensure a well-prioritised research effort.

Early sharing of preprints in a digital repository

In this type of early sharing, the author archives their preprint in an open digital repository. This does not replace publication in a journal. Most publishers and journals allow a preprint to be shared before a manuscript is submitted to a journal, but not all do.

In fields such as physics, mathematics, and computer science, there has long been a tradition of making preprints available. This allows researchers to share their findings early and receive feedback from others before submitting the manuscript to a journal or publisher.

There are many different preprint repositories. Some are discipline-specific, while others are multidisciplinary. Some well-known preprint repositories include arXiv (for mathematics and physics, among others), bioRxic (biology), medRxiv (medicine), PhilArchive (philosophy), RePEc (social economy), SSRN (multidisciplinary), SocArXiv (social sciences).

• List of preprint repositories (Wikipedia)

Early sharing of preprints via publishing platforms or journals

Some journals and publishing platforms practice post-publication peer review. This means that the submitted version of the article (preprint) is published and made available with a clear indication that it has not yet undergone peer review. The academic community is invited to contribute to the evaluation process. Once the peer review and any revisions of the article are completed, and the peers have accepted the article, its status will be changed to peer-reviewed and accepted.

In this type of early sharing, open peer review is common. Various models exist for open peer review, and it is typical for the names of the reviewers to be publicly disclosed during or after the article's approval. Some journals also publish a peer review report alongside the article, and in some cases, they include correspondence between the author and the reviewers and/or between the reviewers themselves.

The publishing platform  F1000Research and the journal eLife are well-known publishing channels for this type of early sharing.

Anyone receiving funding from the EU’s Horizon programme can publish for free on the publishing platform​​​​​​​ Open Research Europe, which is built on the same journal platform as F1000. In this way, the EU ensures that all who receive funding through Horizon can practise early sharing, with open peer review and free open access.

Preregistration

Preregistration, or advance registration, involves registering hypotheses, methods, and/or analyses of a scientific study before it is conducted. This can be done, for example, in the Open Science Framework.

Preregistration can help prevent manipulation of research results and increase the transparency of research. It counteracts practices such as p-hacking and HARKing.

• HARKing: Hypothesis After the Results are Known

Registered reports

Registered reports are a way to publish research results where journals conduct an initial evaluation before the study begins. Researchers submit a description of the study design, hypothesis, methods, analysis plan, and similar details. If the study plan is deemed sufficiently robust, the journal guarantees that the results of the study will be published, provided that the researchers adhere to the plan.

Open peer review

Open peer review is an umbrella term that can refer to several different practices and combinations of these. It may involve the public disclosure of the names of those who have reviewed manuscripts, the publication of peer review reports, or the sharing of correspondence between authors, peer reviewers, and the editorial team.

Several journals implement open peer review practices. In some cases, reviewers can choose whether to have their names and peer review reports made public.

The publishing platform F1000 and Open Research Europe are two examples of such journals.

• F1000 Research
• Open Research Europe

Sources

O’Sullivan, L., Ma, L. and Doran, P. (2021) ‘An Overview of Post-Publication Peer Review’. Scholarly Assessment Reports, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.29024/sar.26.

Schmidt B, Ross-Hellauer T, van Edig X and Moylan EC. (2018). Ten considerations for open peer review. F1000Research, 7:969 https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.15334.1

Sætrevik, B. (2017, 4.juli). Replikasjonskrisen. Psykologi. https://psykologtidsskriftet.no/fagessay/2017/07/replikasjonskrisen