Open research (or, ‘open science’) practices involve the open sharing of research materials, methodologies, tools, and processes as early as possible in the research process.
Open research methods can include preregistration of study designs, open protocols and workflows, citizen science, open access software and computational models, participation in open peer-review, and the publication of detailed metadata and documentation to ensure the reproducibility of open research data.
Open research methods increase the quality of research by improving robustness through ‘reproducibility’. That is, the ability to reproduce or duplicate results, using the same data or materials and the same study design, methodology, or procedures as the original piece of research.
Some research funders, including the European Commission, require you to demonstrate that you have integrated open research practices into your research design and methodology as well as your plans for disseminating your research.
How to publish and share your research methods and practices
A registered report is a peer-reviewed research article published in two stages. Registered reports help combat the publication bias as the study design is peer-reviewed and published on the basis of quality rather than on the basis of positive results.
In stage 1, the study design, including hypothesis, methodology, and the plan for the analysis of the study data is submitted for peer-review. If accepted at stage one, the research study is preregistered and the final research article is provisionally accepted for publication. In stage 2, the final full research article containing the results and discussion is submitted for peer-review.
For further guidance, including a list of journals that support Registered Reports, visit The Centre for Open Science.
You can also read the PLOS guidance on how to write your methods.
You can preregister a research design, including hypothesis, methodology, and analysis plan independently in a dedicated public repository. Preregistration helps help combat the publication bias towards positive results.
You can find a generic template for preregistering your study design on MetaArXiv as well as specific templates for different types of study on Open Science Foundation.
Examples of preregistration repositories:
- OSF (multidisciplinary preregistration repository)
- AsPredicted (multidisciplinary preregistration repository)
- Preclinicaltrials.eu (specialist repository for preclinical animal trial protocols)
- PROSPERO (NIHR-funded preregistration repository for health and social care systematic reviews)
- Registry for International Development Impact Evaluations (preregistration repository for impact evaluations of development policies and programmes)
A published protocol typically includes an abstract contextualizing the protocol step-by-step, alongside documentation detailing all the research materials and any specialized instruments, technical details such as measurements and experimental parameters, formulae, and workflows and processes. You can preregister and share experimental protocols openly via Protocol Exchange (natural sciences) or protocols.io (multidisciplinary) and assign them a re-use licence.
You can find guidance on writing study protocols on PLOS.
Examples of open experimental protocols:
- https://www.protocols.io/view/batch-extraction-of-morphological-and-color-metric-byt4pwqw
- https://www.protocols.io/view/a-streamlined-protocol-for-high-throughput-amplifi-bw2cpgaw
Examples of open systematic review protocols:
You can publish your data management plan in a specialised journal such as RIO, or record your data management plan as an output via our institutional repository WestminsterResearch. Make sure you request a DOI for your data management plan and assign a suitable re-use licence.
You can also create and share data management plans via data management plan repositories such as DMPOnline and DMPTool.
You can find examples of open data management plans at RIO Journal.
You can use open source project management tools and open electronic lab notebooks, such as Open Science Framework or protocols.io.
You can also use research data management and repository infrastructures such as ELIXIR (life sciences), CESSDA (social sciences), and DARIAH (arts and humanities) to collaborate with external peers.
Publish and collaborate on your software, algorithms, and scripts by sharing them openly via a trusted software repository or an open interactive code notebook. You can turn your code repository into an interactive notebook for others to use and reuse via tools such as Binder.
Make sure you assign an appropriate software reuse licence, such as those listed by the Open Science Initiative or the Free Software Foundation.
Examples of software repositories:
Example of an open software model with instructions for use:
Examples of open code notebooks published via PLOS:
Publish and share your research data or research materials via a research data repository. You can find more guidance on choosing and using research data repositories on our research data webpages.
A preprint is a full version of a research article that is published openly and which has not yet been submitted to a journal for peer-review. Many open publishers such as PLOS encourage researchers to post preprints. Other publishers, however, may reject articles that have already been published in preprint form, so you must read and understand publisher policies before you submit your article for publication. Preprints are citable and are usually published via preprint servers.
Examples of preprint servers:
A persistent identifier is a long-lasting unique identifier for digital objects that link people, institutions, and outputs across multiple digital infrastructures. All the protocols, software, data, and materials that you share can be linked via your author ORCiD. You can find further information on using your ORCiD to link your outputs on the Research & Knowledge Exchange blog.
Citizen science and participatory research is an open research practice involving the opening up of research to citizen stakeholders, who may be involved in the co-design of the study, the co-collection of data, monitoring, analysis, or feedback. You can find further information and best practice guidance on engaging the public in your research on the UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) website.
If you are a practice-based researcher, you can use WestminsterResearch to document and share your research practice as a project evolves. Find out more about creating portfolios on the Research & Knowledge Exchange Office blog.