Open Research at Edinburgh

Abstract

Open research practices, which seek to foster research collaboration, transparency, and accessibility, are an integral part of research culture change. Policies are being introduced, particularly at the level of research funding and publishing, to make open research the ‘new normal’. However, the support currently available to help researchers adopt open research practices varies by institution; college, school, or department; and research discipline and methods. Our primary aim in this report was to identify the open research support available to University of Edinburgh research students and staff at various levels including central, local, and grassroots initiatives. As a secondary aim, we sought to understand post graduate researchers’ (PGRs) experiences with open research, including PGRs own personal knowledge and adoption of open research, their experiences accessing support, and what kinds of support they think would benefit them most. This report presents a summary of open research support available at the University of Edinburgh between October 2023 and February 2024, alongside key findings and action items related to open research support for PGRs from semi-structured discussions with seven researchers across the University’s three colleges.