Blog

At the Health Research Board (HRB), we pride ourselves on leading innovative approaches to underpin health research. So, to celebrate the 3^rd birthday of our publishing platform, HRB Open Research, we showcase highlights from our endeavors and celebrate how more of the research community are embracing open research and its growing popularity in Ireland.

Leading the transition to open publishing in Ireland, the Health Research Board (HRB) launched its innovative HRB Open Research publishing platform three years ago. We are now actively implementing new changes that encourage and help more of the community to follow suit and adopt open research practices.

We’re delighted that for the third year running HRB Open Research is the most used publishing venue for HRB-funded researchers. Last year we saw a staggering 158% increase in the number of articles submitted. We’ve always considered HRB Open Research to be a game changer for Ireland, and these figures certainly reflect that. We will do our utmost to sustain and advance this trajectory.

Actions speak louder than words

Pace and action are critical when dealing with a pandemic. In 2020, when the COVID-19 crisis hit, HRB joined the global fight against Covid-19. In cooperation with the Irish Research Council (IRC) and Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), HRB launched a rapid response mechanism to fund research that would provide evidence for the national and global efforts to tackle the virus outbreak. We asked our researchers to publish Study Protocols to provide an early insight into their ongoing research activity.

Last May, the Coronavirus collection launched and in less than a year, 24 articles have been published and more have been submitted. COVID-19 has dramatically altered our lives, but these studies address the implications the pandemic has on the physical and mental health of communities and are looking at how care and services can improve to better support individuals and groups.

Our COVID-19 publication track record is just one example of the impact we have had over the past three years.

A timely manner

Through the years, we’ve seen researchers favour us for speed of publication. As you can see, our publishing times are even quicker than before, taking only 9 days (median time) from submission to publication, and we still continue to deliver an efficient service with 90 days (median time) from submission to two peer review reports. As well as research being rapidly shared, there is as much need for timely expert peer review to validate and improve the work. We are proud to see that along with the 171 articles published since launch, we have also now published 423 peer review reports.

During the pandemic, high speed science has been of greater importance than before. An adaptation to the urgency of a public-health emergency, placing emphasis on the necessity to post findings swiftly, which could influence lifesaving health and policy decisions. At HRB, we’ve long been aware of the benefits researchers gain from sharing their research as quickly as possible and granting others immediate access to it. It is fantastic to see this broader acceptance of open research practices brought about by the pandemic, may it long continue and be a permanent transition cementing the value and recognition of open science in the community. 

Making space

As we look back on the last year, two other developments that deserve another moment in the limelight are: the Public and Patient Involvement (PPI) collection and the TILDA gateway. The PPI collection provides a home for public and patient focused health research on HRB Open Research. To demonstrate advances in PPI over time and celebrate creative and inclusive approaches, this collection provides further evidence of the value of PPI with submissions that support learning and understanding of the language and undertaking of involvement. The papers contained within the collection will also help guide and inspire others to advance PPI.

Our PPI collection advisors, Éidín Ní Shé, School of Population Health, University of New South Wales, and Avril Keenan, Health Research Charities Ireland, explain the importance of having a collection dedicated to PPI research; “While we are in the midst of a culture change to include the opinions and expertise of public and patients in shaping health research, we are by no means there yet. Any culture change requires drive and focus, and this dedicated PPI collection will be a valuable tool in progressing the embedding of PPI in research. It is especially important that it is hosted on an accessible and open-access platform, where the public can access the papers as easily as researchers.” Find out more about the aims of the collection and the future of PPI from Ní Shé and Keenan in this blog.

The reach of scholarly work by public and patients was important for the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA), a nationally representative, longitudinal research study, now 13 years in existence, which collects key information on all aspects of the health, economic and social circumstances of adults aged 50 and over living in Ireland. We worked with them to launch the TILDA gateway, a hub collating research for this unparalleled resource on ageing, which aligns with TILDA’s aims to inform health and social policy.

The gateway provides a home for all HRB-funded outputs that are submitted by TILDA researchers or based on analysis of TILDA data. At the time of its launch, Gateway Advisors Rose Anne Kenny and Paul O’Mahoney of TILDA, said; “The gateway provides a very useful channel to showcase TILDA’s outputs, increase knowledge of the dataset and reach policymakers, public service professionals and the public. We hope the gateway will inspire greater interest in and engagement with our research, and knowledge of the content of the TILDA dataset. We hope the gateway functions serve as a ‘go to’ source for peer-reviewed and reputable research for a wide variety of stakeholders, from those planning and delivering healthcare in Ireland, to professional researchers, patient and advocacy groups and ‘experts by experience.“ Browse through the research published on the gateway. In the future, new research arising from two projects led by TILDA secured under the HRB COVID-19 Rapid Response Funding Scheme will be added. More details on TILDA’s projects can be found here.

So, there are many reasons to consider publishing your next article with us. We would also welcome your ideas on how HRB Open Research can help disseminate your work. If you have questions about the platform, please don’t hesitate to get in touch at info@hrbopenresearch.org.