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Open research

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

Using academic network sites

Sharing your research on academic network sites, or more broadly on social media is a consideration. This engagement with your research may lead to future collaborations as well as enable give access to a wider audience.

Two common academic networks and file-sharing sites are ResearchGate and Academia.edu. It is important to remember that an academic social networking site is not a repository, and uploading published work to these sites does not fulfil your institutional or funder obligations. For more information on this see A social networking site is not an open access repository.

For green open access, RMIT University encourages researchers to deposit a copy of the 'accepted manuscript' version of your output in the Research Repository.  Email your manuscript to repository@rmit.edu.au.

Comparison of repositories and academic network sites
  RMIT Research Repository Academia.edu / ResearchGate
Supports exporting or harvesting yes no
Long-term preservation yes no
Business Model Non-profit Commercial- sells job posting services
Sends you lots of emails (by default) no yes
Wants access to your address and contact books no yes
Depositing your work fulfills your ARC and NHMRC policy requirements yes no

Embargoes

Publishers are becoming more restrictive in where and what researchers can share via academic networking sites. Check How Can I Share It to see publishers policies on sharing published work on different types of websites.

One way to use academic social networking sites and not infringe publishers’ copyright agreements is to utilise the embargo period. A useful tool in finding a journal's embargo period is Open Policy Finder, an online resource that aggregates and presents publisher and journal open access policies from around the world.