Open Research Support at Russell Group Universities

As part of my work as Research Data Steward, I was asked by our Open Research Co-ordinator to investigate the open research support available at Russell Group universities and how the University of Edinburgh compares.[1] Open research, which is also known as “open science” or “open scholarship”, refers to a collection of practices and principles around transparency, reproducibility and integrity in research. To understand to what extent Russell Group universities have adapted to the ongoing development of open science, we have conducted analysis in terms of four areas. Do they have a published policy around Open Research? Do they have an Open Research Roadmap? Do they mention any training or specific support for researchers in achieving Open Research? What services do they provide to support Open Research?

Firstly, we checked whether those universities have a policy/statement that outlines the university’s approach to support open research and key principles for researchers. Less than 30% of these universities have a clear policy or statement for Open Research. Good examples include the University of Cambridge,[2] University of Sheffield,[3] and Cardiff University.[4]

Secondly, we checked whether they have a Roadmap that provides a set of questions that universities can use to monitor their progress in implementing Open Science principles, practices and policies at a local level. Among the Russell Group members, University of Edinburgh and University College London – two members of the League of European Research Universities (LERU) [5] provide a roadmap/page dedicated to monitor their progress. (Ours can be found on this Open Research page.)

Facets of open researchThirdly,what services are provided to researchers to make their work public? Most universities provide support like a data repository (except for LSE), Research Data Management support, Open Access to publications and thesis and guidance on sharing research software. A few provide support on protocols sharing. Some universities have started hosting an open research conference. For example, UCL Open Science Conference 2021, 2022,[6] Open Research Symposium hosted by the University of Southampton,[7] and University Open Research Conference, June 2021, at the University of Birmingham.[8] As an active member of LERU, our university also joined in to launch our first Edinburgh Open Research Conference in May, 2022.

Lastly, we have found all universities have training relevant to open research, with around half of them clearly advertising their training. Some good examples which we could learn from include the “Open Research education for doctoral students” from Imperial College[9]  and a practical libguide for open research provided by the University of York[10].

We are glad to see that Russell Group members have started adopting actions to support Open research, which is considered part of the new normal for research-intensive universities. However, this is a long and ongoing process. We have seen that many universities are still in the early stages of the implementation process and more can be done to advance their practice, including ours.

Yue Gu
Research Data Steward

Footnotes
[1] https://russellgroup.ac.uk/about/our-universities/
[2] https://osc.cam.ac.uk/open-research-position-statement
[3] https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/openresearch/university-statement-open-research
[4] https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/documents/2519297-open-research-position-statement
[5] https://www.leru.org/publications/implementing-open-science
[6] See the UCL Blog post for more information. https://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/open-access/2022/03/15/bookings-now-open-for-ucl-open-science-conference-2022/
[7] https://library.soton.ac.uk/openaccess/Plan_S_open_research_symposium
[8] See https://intranet.birmingham.ac.uk/as/libraryservices/library/research/open-research.aspx
[9] https://www.imperial.ac.uk/research-and-innovation/support-for-staff/scholarly-communication/open-research/open-research-education/
[10] https://subjectguides.york.ac.uk/openresearch/home

New data archiving unit in MANTRA

Summertime is always a good time to renew and refresh – including open educational resources like Research Data MANTRA, https://mantra.ed.ac.uk, a free online course “for those who manage digital data as part of their research project.”

MANTRA’s lead editor Bob Sanders, in Library Research Support, has been busy in between his summer holidays getting all the topical units fit for new postgrads and early career researchers.

In particular each of the units’ links, images, videos, activities and further reading sections have been renewed, following a rolling revamp of most of the sections’ written content over the last couple of years. Two of the units, ‘Files, formats and transformation,’ and ‘Documentation, metadata and citation’ have been retired and  replaced by a new ‘Preparing your data for archiving’ section, covering why and how to publish your data in a trustworthy repository.

We are also aware that the data handling tutorials, separate from the other units, have become more or less outdated and while we decide how to address this, users should be aware of the last update date on each set of those downloadable materials.

Of course we practice what we preach in terms of archiving, and so previous units that have been revamped have been archived on the Zenodo site, (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1035218), along with the retired ‘DIY RDM Training Kit for Librarians’ (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6532049).

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Bob for acting as lead editor for MANTRA in recent years and for stewarding it through so many new developments in the field of research data management, and to wish him well in his new role as SCADR Training Manager in the School of GeoSciences.

For the complete set of RDM training by the Research Data Service, including live sessions, see https://www.ed.ac.uk/is/data-training.

Robin Rice
Data Librarian and Head, Research Data Support

Quicker, easier interface for DataVault

We are delighted to report that Edinburgh DataVault now has a quicker and easier process for users. The team have been working hard to overhaul the form for creating a new ‘vault’ to improve the user experience. The changes allow us to gather all the information we need from the user directly through a DataVault web page. The users no longer need to first login to Pure and create a separate dataset record there. Instead, that bit will be automated for them.

I have explained the new process and walked users through the new form in a new and updated how-to video, now combining the getting started information with the demo of how to create a vault:

Get started and create your vault! (8 mins)

The new streamlined process for users is represented and compared to our open research data repository DataShare in this workflow diagram. DataVault is designed for restricted access, but can also handle far larger datasets than DataShare.

The diagram shows the steps users go through in DataShare and DataVault. Common steps are deposit and approval.

The DataVault process includes the gathering of funding information, and review and deletion none of which are present in the DataShare workflow since they would not be relevant to that open research data repository.

The arrow showing DataVault metadata going to the internet represents the copying of selected metadata fields into Pure, where they are accessible as dataset records in the university’s Edinburgh Research Explorer online portal.

Our new course “Archiving Your Research Data”, featuring Sara Thomson, Digital Archivist, provides an introduction to digital preservation for researchers, combined with practical support on how to put digital preservation into practice using the support and systems available here at University of Edinburgh such as the DataVault. For future dates and registration information please see our Workshops page.

A recording of an earlier workshop (before the new interface was released) is also available: Archiving Your Research Data Part 1: Long-term Preservation.

If you are a University of Edinburgh principal investigator, academic, or support professional interested in using the Edinburgh DataVault, please get in touch by emailing data-support@ed.ac.uk.

Pauline Ward
Research Data Support Assistant
Library and University Collections
University of Edinburgh

University of Edinburgh’s new Research Data Management Policy

Following a year-long consultation with research committees and other stakeholders, a new RDM Policy (www.ed.ac.uk/is/research-data-policy) has replaced the landmark 2011 policy, authored by former Digital Curation Centre Director, Chris Rusbridge, which seemed to mark a first for UK universities at the time. The original policy (doi: 10.7488/era/1524) was so novel it was labeled ‘aspirational’ by those who passed it.

"Policy"

CC-BY-SA-2.0, Sustainable Economies Law Centre, flickr

RDM has come a long way since then, as has the University Research Data Service which supports the policy and the research community. Expectation of a data management plan to accompany a research proposal has become much more ordinary, and the importance of data sharing has also become more accepted in that time, with funders’ policies becoming more harmonised (witness UKRI’s 2016 Concordat on Open Research Data).

What has changed?

Although a bit longer (the first policy was ten bullet points and could fit on a single page!), the new policy adds clarity about the University’s expectations of researchers (both staff and students), adds important concepts such as making data FAIR (explanation below) and grounding concepts in other key University commitments and policies such as research integrity, data protection, and information security (with references included at the end). Software code, so important for research reproducibility, is included explicitly.

CC BY 2.0, Big Data Prob, KamiPhuc on flickr

Definitions of research data and research data management are included, as well as specific references to some of the service components that can help – DMPOnline, DataShare, etc. A commitment to review the policy every 5 years, or sooner if needed, is stated, so another ten years doesn’t fly by unnoticed. Important policy references are provided with links. The policy has graduated from aspirational – the word “must” occurs twelve times, and “should” fifteen times. Yet academic freedom and researcher choice remains a basic principle.

Key messages

In terms of responsibilities, there are 3 named entities:

  • The Principle Investigator retains accountability, and is responsible as data owner (and data controller when personal data are collected) on behalf of the University. Responsibility may be delegated to a member of a project team.
  • Students should adhere to the policy/good practice in collecting their own data. When not working with data on behalf of a PI, individual students are the data owner and data controller of their work.
  • The University is responsible for raising awareness of good practice, provision of useful platforms, guidance, and services in support of current and future access.

Data management plans are required:

  • Researchers must create a data management plan (DMP) if any research data are to be collected or used.
  • Plans should cover data types and volume, capture, storage, integrity, confidentiality, retention and destruction, sharing and deposit.
  • Research data management plans must specify how and when research data will be made available for access and reuse.
  • Additionally, a Data Protection Impact Assessment is required whenever data pertaining to individuals is used.
  • Costs such as extra storage, long-term retention, or data management effort must be addressed in research proposals (so as to be recovered from funders where eligible).
  • A University subscription to the DMPOnline tool guides researchers in creating plans, with funder and University templates and guidance; users may request assistance in writing or reviewing a plan from the Research Data Service.

FAIR data sharing is more nuanced than ‘open data’:

  • Publicly funded research data should be made openly available as soon as possible with as few restrictions as necessary.
  • Principal Investigators and research students should consider how they can best make their data FAIR in their Data Management Plans (findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable).
  • Links to relevant publications, people, projects, and other research products such as software or source code should be provided in metadata records, with persistent identifiers when available.
  • Discoverability and access by machines is considered as important as access by humans. Standard open licences should be applied to data and code deposits.

Use data repositories to achieve FAIR data:

  • Research data must be offered for deposit and retention in a national or international data service or domain repository, or a University repository (see next bullet).
  • PIs may deposit their data for open access for all (with or without a time-limited embargo) in Edinburgh DataShare, a University data repository; or DataVault, a restricted access long-term retention solution.
  • Research students may deposit a copy of their (anonymised) data in Edinburgh DataShare while retaining ownership.
  • Researchers should add a dataset metadata record in Pure to data archived elsewhere, and link it to other research outputs.
  • Software code relevant to research findings may be deposited in code repositories such as Gitlab or Github (cloud).

Consider rights in research data:

  • Researchers should consider the rights of human subjects, as well as citizen scientists and the public to have access to their data, as well as external collaborators.
  • When open access to datasets is not legal or ethical (e.g. sensitive data), information governance and restrictions on access and use must be applied as necessary.
  • The University’s Research Office can assist with providing templates for both incoming and outgoing research data and the drafting and negotiation of data sharing agreements.
  • Exclusive rights to reuse or publish research data must not be passed to commercial publishers.

Robin Rice
Data Librarian and Head, Research Data Support
Library & University Collections