Why should we Open (up) Research - Jenny O'Neill, HEAnet

In my previous role as a Data Manager in an academic library I was asked by a researcher how they could make their corpus of newspaper articles available to other researchers for verification of their research but also reuse in future research. Out of curiosity I asked their motivation for making their research data open and they simply replied: “Because it’s the right thing to do”.

UNESCO defines Open Research as “a set of principles and practices that aim to make scientific research from all fields accessible to everyone for the benefits of scientists and society as a whole.” Most funders, institutions and publishers now require researchers to adopt Open Research practices and embed them in their research.

Also referred to as Open Science or Open Scholarship, this talk will explore the concept of Open Research, not just from a compliance perspective, but considering the values of Open Research together with the guiding principles as described by UNESCO*. Using HEAnet as an example I will consider if and how the values of Open Research align with institutional values and goals. Finally I will consider how these values might also align with our personal values, supporting the assertion “it’s the right thing to do”.

*UNESCO defines the values of Open Research to be quality and integrity, collective benefit, equity and fairness and diversity and inclusiveness and the guiding principles transparency, scrutiny, critique and reproducibility, equality of opportunities, responsibility, respect and accountability, collaboration, participation and inclusion, flexibility and sustainability.