Topic 3: Open research (2017/8)

How is research influenced by openness?

This is an archived version of a topic page from the 2017/8 academic year. We are currently finalising the sessions for 2018/9; please check back soon.

[Image: an open latch with no padlock present] In what ways can the practice and outputs of research be open? [CC0 by terimakasih0 on Pixabay]

PG Cert HE participants: This topic is linked to the session on 28 Feb 2018. You can use this page to review or catch up. Please access the Prepare and Reflect tool via Blackboard, adding your responses, and updating any which have changed.

[Image: Open Access logo and a number of benefits of OA research. Text version] [CC BY Danny Kingsley & Sarah Brown via Wikimedia]

This session aims to cover how research in higher education is influenced by openness. The session will examine the publishing model and consider how there are changes afoot that may bring down the system.

We will look at relevant policy and the current state of play, as well as benefits and challenges.

This page includes contributions from experts and OKHE graduates. We hope you are able to think about some of these before the session — if you are pushed for time, go for the essential reading (singular) — or afterwards.

We would like to thank Lucy May (Scholarly Communications Librarian, University of Manchester) and Stephen Pinfield (Professor of Information Services Management, University of Sheffield) for their contributions to the session. View their full biographies via our Guests page.

Essential reading/viewing

Our essential reading this week is the University of Manchester Library’s short summary of open access (OA), including definitions of Green and Gold OA. There is a video alternative. Please access either or both before the session.

Further reading

• Peter Suber’s excellent introduction to the topic of Open Access.
• A summary of The University of Manchester’s first Open Research Forum, on the theme ‘Open in order to…’
• An overview of the history of scholarly publishing by Fyfe et al.: Untangling academic publishing: A history of the relationship between commercial interests, academic prestige and the circulation of research.
• An LSE Impact Blog post on open research as a principle of ‘good’ research
• An overview of the current state of play by Tennant et al.: The academic, economic and societal impacts of open access: An evidence-based review.

What do you think?

After reading the above, consider your responses to these questions:

• How much do you engage with research in your role? How much is OA?
• What can Universities do more of in the area of open research? What can you do, regardless of your role, to support this?

Leave a comment

After reading and thinking about this topic, please comment below to share an idea, question, or response. This is optional, although we particularly ask you to do this if you are/were unable to make the face-to-face session.