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Open research

This guide provides information on a number of different ways you can embed open practices into your research.

Upcoming Research Spotlights

IP Commercialisation in Research: Success Stories

Translation of research outcomes and intellectual property (IP) is fundamental to achieving impact, be it economic, social, cultural or environmental. This Spotlight is for researchers at all stages, whether  they are just starting out on the research journey and wanting to better understand IP commercialisation, or already have ideas/research outcomes and are looking to explore pathways to market and impact.
In this session RMIT’s IP and Commercialisation team will provide:

  • An overview of the University’s approach to IP commercialisation
  • Models used to get research outcomes/IP into the hands of our partners
  • Case studies of successful IP commercialisation/translation

Presented by Mohan Sridhar, Senior Manager, IP & Commercialisation, Research Partnerships & Translation, and Tim McLennan, Executive Director-Research Partnerships, Research & Innovation Portfolio.

Wed 21 June 2023, 2:30-3:30 PM

Register for a webinar

Open Research Toolkit

Announcing the launch of the Open Research Toolkit a joint venture of CAUL, ARMS, CAUDIT, ARDC, ARC and NHMRC.

What is Open Research?

Open research is “scholarly research that is collaborative, transparent and reproducible and whose outputs are publicly available” (Open Science Policy Platform)

Open research applies to the entire research cycle, not just open access publishing. Open research extends to all disciplines and types of research, inclusive of protocols, data, code, software, publications, and more. Many elements of the research lifecycle can be made open, transparent, and reproducible.

Open research principles

The principles of Open Research will be reflected in the policies of public funders and organisations that promote greater public access to research. The principles apply to all researchers and all disciplines, and are:

  • Making the outputs of research, including publications, data, software, and other research materials freely accessible
  • Using online tools and services to increase the transparency of research processes and methodologies
  • Making scientific research more reproducible by increasing the amount and quality of information placed on the public record
  • Using alternative models of publication and peer review to make the dissemination and certification of research faster and more transparent
  • Using open collaborative methods to increase efficiency and widen participation in research

Acknowledgement: University of Reading

Open licenses

'Open means anyone can freely access, use, modify, and share for any purpose' (The Open Definition)

The outputs of research, including publications, research data and software code, should be shared under an open licence wherever possible, in order to maximise opportunities for their consultation and re-use by others.

Examples of open licences include:

The Creative Commons licence suite includes versions with Non-Commercial and No-Derivatives terms. These are not open licences, because of the restrictions the terms place on re-use. But if the material cannot be made available under an open licence, it is still wise to publish under a standard licence that offers the closest approximation. CC BY-NC may not be an open licence, but it grants broad permission for use in research and teaching and other non-commercial activities.

Acknowledgement: University of Reading