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Open research

Information is provided on a number of different ways you can embed open practices into your research.

Tips to make research more open

Help establish norms of best practice by exemplifying them in your own behaviour. Influence your colleagues and the wider network of peers. Speak up for the highest standards of open research.

The following are suggested methods that everyone can apply in playing a role in fostering the growth of an open research culture.


  1. Publish your work in an Open Access journal - Make your research publications (articles, books, theses, data, etc.) open access by publishing in a Gold Open Access journal.
     
  2. Add publications to the Research Repository - Submit your accepted manuscripts or Creative Commons licensed publications to the Research Repository (Green Open Access).

    Video: Add publications to the Research Repository (Library Short, 4:47 min by RMIT University Library, Microsoft Stream, RMIT login required).
     
  3. Deposit your data into Figshare - Deposit data that supports your research findings into a data repository (e.g. Figshare) making them FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable). Information about FAIR principles and Figshare is available on the Research Data Management library guide.
     
  4. Release your code - Deposit your research code into a data repository (e.g. Figshare or GitHub) and cite the code in your publications. Information about Figshare is available in the Research Data Management library guide.
     
  5. Sharing your preprint - To get your research findings into the public domain as soon as possible consider using a preprint server. Check SHERPA RoMEO to ensure that your choice journals allow the posting of preprints.
     
  6. Engage with open peer review - Submit to journals/publishers that operate an open peer review process, or by reviewing for these journals and posting your reviews online.
     
  7. Publish in a specialised dataset journal - Datasets and software can be published as a peer-reviewed data paper or a software paper. These research outputs will then garner citations as evidence of your work.
     
  8. Promote open research - Use social media and other research communications channels to publicise your open outputs. Use your involvement with memberships and editorial boards to influence open research activities and policies.
     
  9. Participate in community initiatives - Introduce and share the concepts and practices of open research with others, for example, join an open research community or project.
     
  10. Discuss open research with your team - Ask questions such as: What is our policy on data sharing? Does our project have a Data Management Plan? How do we manage and share code? Could we publish our findings as a preprint? Could we pre-register our study design, or submit it to a journal as a registered report?