Open research

While Open Research goes beyond open access to scholarly publications, our commitment to fostering Open Research practices at Westminster is underpinned by our Open Access Policy, which requires researchers to deposit a record of all outputs (including the full text and associated files where possible) to our institutional repository WestminsterResearch via the VRE (password required).

Our institutional repository enables ‘green open access’, in which a copy of the accepted author manuscript is deposited (‘self-archived’) in the VRE and made available after any embargo period imposed by the publisher has expired. 

Some publishers are working with universities to change the current business model, in which open access to research is embargoed and in which UK universities are charged doubly – once for subscription fees to read research, and again for open access article processing charges (APCs) to publish research openly – towards a fully open access ‘read and publish’ model. One way they do this is via transformative agreements, which have the potential to break up big umbrella journal subscription packages. This will enable a shift away from current inequitable pricing models which have both vastly outpaced inflation and restricted open access to scholarly publications only to those who can afford it. You can find out about the read and publish deals you benefit from at Westminster, and the other options available to you to make your research open, in our blog post How to Make Your Research Articles Open at Westminster.

The University of Westminster Press is another key component of the University’s open research environment, publishing open access academic books and journals under open licenses from Creative Commons. The Press is widely recognised as a pioneer in not-for-profit ‘Diamond Access’, particularly in the social sciences and humanities. UWP authors are also encouraged to make the research objects associated with their research publications open access via a repository on the Dataverse Network. Open data enables reviewers and researchers to appraise both the material and the conclusions of research publications. In this way, UWP’s open access publishing model is able to offer a fully accessible resource and accelerate the efforts of the research community towards open research and research integrity.

Supporting and advocating for good research data management at every stage of the open research lifecycle is integral to Westminster’s open research environment. Working towards making data open where possible, and recognising the importance of reproducibility, the University is a member of the UK Reproducibility Network, a national peer-led consortium working to promote Open Research. On our dedicated Research Data webpages, you’ll find guidance for every stage from planning for openness to using research data repositories to publish and share your software or code. We have also published a step-by-step guide to licensing your research data for re-use by others.

Persistent identifiers (PIDs) are a further core element of open research. Persistent identifiers provide and maintain unique and stable digital identifiers for research components such as authors (ORCID), institutions (Research Organisation Registry, ROR IDs), and publications (Digital Object Identifiers, DOIs). PIDs improve the integrity of research by authenticating identities and providing and maintaining stable digital links between authors, collaborators, grants, articles, and research data. You can read more on the RKEO blog about persistent identifiers and how to use them, and you can find guidance on the Researcher Support webpages on linking your ORCiD to the VRE and creating a DOI in the VRE for your research outputs and research data. Using PIDs facilitates the discoverability and citation of your research and makes your research FAIR: Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable.

Beyond traditional text-based outputs and research data, our institutional repository includes an innovative, sector-leading focus on art and design, enabling open access to and data sharing of practice-based research and ensuring full accessibility of all our research. In 2022 we launched our newly developed ‘enhanced portfolios’ output type in the VRE, which will enable practice-based researchers to share and appropriately license images and videos, contextualise their practice with process and project narratives, and share practice-based research beyond text-based outputs.

You can also record and share your engagement activities – from exhibitions and workshops to media appearances and coverage – on your public-facing webpage using the new Researcher Profiles section Public and community engagement (PCE). Future development work in the VRE will embed RSS feeds from the institutional repository to your personal website, making it easier to record and share your research activities across platforms.