Open research vs open knowledge: where do I fit in?
Open research is a concept I have become very familiar with since starting my job at the Office for Open Research, in January 2022. On a daily basis, I advise researchers on data management plans, highlighting opportunities to openly share their research data with others, and approve open access requests for journal atricles submitted by Manchester researchers. A large part of my role is to contribute to the University’s strategic Open Research Programme, developing support infrastructures and promoting an open research culture. Taking part in OKHE has given me a chance to step back from my relatively narrow focus of “opening” research, and reflecting on a bigger picture. Most importantly, it’s given me a chance to pause and appreciate the amazing knowledge others are contributing.
While today, you could say that open research has become my bread and butter, this wasn’t always the case. My pre-pandemic career was in pharmaceutical clinical trials, where confidentiality and commercial non-disclosure reigned supreme. A term more familiar to me a decade ago, as a brand-new Manchester undergraduate, and likely many of my peers today, was “open access”. Indeed, the open research movement stemmed from an early 2000s, open access movement — which championed this describes free and unrestricted access to research publications such as journal articles and books. Open access articles can be found through tools such as Google Scholar and PubMed, publically funded research databases or online repositories. Removing barriers to scholarly publications, primarily through abolishing paywalls remains a particular focus of open access.
These open principles are now also applied to additional types of research outputs, such as data, code and protocols, through development of online repositories and collaboration platforms. Open research is a movement promoting openness and fairness in the scientific process. It has gained significant momentum in the scientific community over recent years, partly due to an increased attention on replicability, transparency and scientific integrity. Researchers are encouraged to go beyond sharing their results through journal publications — instead sharing all aspects of the research lifecycle including design, methodologies, analysis and code.
Open knowledge, while related to open research, recognises the value of sharing information beyond resaearch outputs, extending to e.g. educational resources, cultural materials and government data. It also extends far beyond formal institutions and recognises that knowledge should be universal. Indeed, open initiatives such as Wikipedia, are now an everyday tool in many of our lives. Knowledge has a transformative power and empowering individuals and communities to learn and to access knowledge benefits all of us.
One concept which I have seen cropping up in both open knowledge and open research is collaboration. Encouraging groups and communities, which did not previously work to tackle issues together, to collaborate and innovate to create a better world is something seen in research, and beyond. Citizen scientists contribute data about pollution in remote areas, citizen sleuths assist law enforcement in solving cold crimes, and ordinary people contribute their knowledge to Wikipedia. Another interesting connection I have identified, is technology. None, or very few, of these innovative projects could take place without the advent of the internet and more recent developments in collaborative technologies and online platforms.
One interesting platform I have learned about through my job is Figshare — an online repository with a really interesting history. Its founder, Mark, found himself without reliable access to a repository in which he could safely and persistently retain large volumes of data which he produced during his studies. So, he built one. Figshare launched in 2011 and its development has been largely guided by the needs of its users — therefore becoming more popular and adopted by an increasing variety of institutions. Far from wanting this to become a Figshare advertisement, as other online repositories are available, I will get to my point.
While attending their recent conference, I had an opportunity to see some fantastic examples of open knowledge projects housed in the repository — particularly, the Endangered Materials Knowledge Programme from the British Museum. To me this didn’t seem like a particularly eye-catching name, but their presentation left me inspired and astonished. The project’s team works with diverse and remote communities and cultures and preserves their knowledge of (you may have guessed it?) materials. Let me give you a better example — the team has tracked down possibly the last living person able of creating an iron Cambodian Angkuoch: “Angkuoch Daek”. Documenting and making available the instrument, and instrument-making process the team has forever preserved information, which would have been lost in the coming years.
I was always conscious of this idea in open research, or that uploading research outputs such as data allows others to fairly access and build upon your valuable work. It has now becomes an almost professional reflex to encourage the use of online repositories, or “sharing your data”. I can point researchers to user guides and policy documents, and answer all sorts of technical enquiries. In almost 15 months however, I had not taken a moment to reflect on all of the knowledge contributed to the wider society through these daily aspects of my role. I admit that in that entire time I have not read any of the open access articles, the charges of which I approved. Stepping back and reflecting on open knowledge makes me wonder — in my own, small way, what knowledge did I help get out into the world? Where did that knowledge go? What can that knowledge do? Reflecting on this has given me a new appreciation and inspiration for my every day work responsibilities.
