5 ways researchers can be more open

28 July, 2022

Open access can advance your research, build public trust in science, and improve healthcare delivery. In this blog, we outline how open access achieves this and five ways you can implement it.

Why choose open access?

Many parties benefit when health and social care research is made freely available. For example, researchers interested in raising awareness of their findings, patients looking for newly developed treatments and services, and policymakers seeking guidance on how to improve patient care and healthcare delivery.

Moreover, studies highlighting the value of open access practices are growing. Jonathan P. Tennant et al. argue it is critical for all involved in research publishing, including policymakers, governments, and academic communities, to be well-informed on the benefits of open access. They also argue that some groups that would gain the most from open access are health advocates, patients, and their supporting networks.

Furthermore, Heather Piwowar et al. discovered freely accessible research is read by more people than research hidden behind a paywall. They also found truth to the concept of an “open access citation advantage” with freely available research. On average, it receives 18% more citations, higher download rates, and increased media attention. This claim is also supported by the findings of a 2019 study arguing open data can generate up to 25% more citations.

So, here are five ways to do open access…

#1 Share your methods

If you are new to open access publishing, want to create new possibilities for collaboration, are an early career researcher (ECR), or want to raise the profile of your research, then sharing your methods or materials openly is a good place to start.

With HRB Open Research, you can publish a wide range of article types at every stage of the research lifecycle, including Method Articles and Study Protocol Articles.

What is a Method Article?

Method Articles allow you to describe new experimental, observational or computational methods, tests, or procedures that have been well tested. This includes:

New study methods
Modifications to existing methods
Innovative applications of existing methods to new models or research questions

HRB Open Research also welcomes technical articles that describe tools that help to:

Create or perform experiments
Provide data analysis features
Assist medical treatment

Are you considering openly publishing new methods for empirical data collection and analysis? Check out this Method Article example on HRB Open Research.

What is a Study Protocol Article?

Study Protocols provide a full description of the research study and act as a ‘manual’ for members of the research team to ensure everyone adheres to the methods outlined. As the study gets underway, it can then be used to monitor the study’s progress and evaluate its outcomes.

Read this Study Protocol, the second most-read article of 2021, to see how this article type works in practice.

#2 Share your data

When a Research Article and the underlying data are made open and accessible, it makes it easier for others to further build on those findings. This allows them to question, replicate, validate, and confirm the integrity of the research.

Moreover, when the reviews of the research and associated data by expert peers are also made available, it brings transparency, accountability, and trust to the validation process. So, by sharing underlying data, researchers benefit from increased opportunities for validity, collaboration, and recognition, as well as demonstrating priority on any new findings.

If you collect or create primary data that support your research findings, make them open by:

Depositing them in a data repository
Using an open licence
Formatting your data so it is readable
Including appropriate documentation and metadata
Citing your data using a unique identifier, like a DOI

Interested in learning more about the data you need to include, where your data can be stored, and how your data should be presented? Read our data preparation guidelines and open data policy.

#3 Release your code

Did you or your research team recently develop some new research software, or write code to perform data analysis? Why not get credit for the many hours you have spent developing your source code? Make it open by:

Releasing the code under an open licence using a data repository or code repository
Citing the code in your publications and use a DOI or other unique identifier
Submitting a Software Tool Article

If you are interested in learning more, see this innovative Software Tool Article example on HRB Open Research.

#4 Engage with open peer review

Open peer review is crucial to research communication. That is why at HRB Open Research, reviewers are formally invited to review papers, and reviewer names and affiliations are openly published alongside their reports. We believe open peer review is beneficial for all stakeholders in the research ecosystem – from reviewers, to authors, readers, and beyond. For instance, reviewers get the credit they deserve for their contributions, authors can collaborate and respond to feedback from expert reviewers, and public trust in science is enhanced.

Have you been invited to review an HRB Open Research paper?

Consider reviewing openly. By sharing feedback transparently, the wider research community can learn from your insights, transforming open peer review into an educational tool. For instance, peer review reports are particularly useful for early career researchers (ECRs) looking to improve their own research. In addition, by publishing reviewer names openly with reviewer reports, reviewers get the credit they deserve for their contribution/s.

Are you interested in learning from expert reviewer feedback?

Publish your paper open access to receive transparent peer review reports. We believe this leads to higher quality reviews, and a more constructive, collaborative conversation within the research community.

Want to learn more about open peer review? Read our blog, where we debunk 3 open peer review myths.

#5 Advocate for open access

Did you just post a preprint or deposit a dataset? Has your peer review report been published?

Tweet about it and feature it on your ORCID profile and CV.

Do you share your experiences engaging with open access with peers or students?

Help normalize open access practices by discussing what motivated you to participate in open publishing, which practices you support, and what you have learned. Your stories may inspire others to try publishing or reviewing openly and help them to be successful when they do. These conversations can also help us develop and improve open practices.

University College Cork researcher, Mairead O’Connor, discussed her experience publishing her Research Article to HRB Open Research, claiming it, “enabled us to share the findings of the study in an accessible manner to a diverse range of key stakeholders […] but particularly to those who do not have access to traditional academic or subscription channels. The whole process from submission to publication was much more straightforward and less time consuming than submitting the article to a specific scientific journal.”

So, these are five ways you, as a researcher, can be open throughout your work. Some will be applicable to all research, and those at all stages of their career. Others might be more relevant to specific disciplines, or the more experienced researcher.

Interested in submitting a paper to HRB Open Research? Want to learn more about the submission process? View our guidance on how to Submit your Research.