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Medicine: Open Research

A guide to library resources for Medicine

Open Research

Open Research

Open Research (used interchangeably with Open Science) champions the idea that scholarly and scientific knowledge (and data) should be shared as freely as possible and as early as possible in the research process across all disciplines, both within and beyond academia. 

Open Research increases transparency and accelerates discovery and innovation, enabling all members of an enquiring society to learn from and build upon scholarship and science – improving the health of our communities, advancing our understanding of the human condition, and empowering small to medium businesses and third sector organisations. We all stand to benefit, and that is why open research is a key part of the research culture at Lancaster. Find out more about the principles and benefits of Open Research here.

Open Research Services at Lancaster University

The Open Research Team work with you through the provision of services, systems, resources and training to help you achieve your research goals and enable Open Research. We’re here to engage with you throughout the whole research cycle, no matter what stage you are in your research career to help you plan, publish, preserve and share your research and meet funder requirements. Click on the headings below to find our more about each of our service areas:

Open Access

We support researchers to identify where to publish research, understand how to make publications open access, meet open access requirements, and take advantage of open access funding. 

Research Data Management 

We help all researchers, in any role or discipline, to access, manage, preserve and share research data effectively. The management of data is an essential part of good research practice. Most research funders and many academic publishers now have mandates that require research data to be properly managed and, where possible, shared openly.

Research Intelligence 

We provide intelligence that can inform you of the impact and influence of your research, using publication data, citations analysis and Altmetrics. This can help with choosing where to publish, finding collaborators and plays a supporting role in funding bids, benchmarking of current practice and evidencing your research strengths.

How can I apply Open Research to my own discipline?

If the concept of open research is new to you, it might be difficult for you to determine how you can apply open research practices to your research. The aim of this webpage is to provide resources and examples of open research practices that are relevant to your discipline.

The website lists case studies of open research practices and resources per discipline (organised as: general, open methods, open data, open output and open education).

Access the resource here. 

Image of UKRN logo: Image of a globe and the UK imposed over it. Blue text that says UK Reproducibility network.

Library Skills@Lancaster: Researcher Development Pathway

We deliver a range of events and training throughout the year to support and enable researchers and students to engage with Open Research. The majority of our training sessions are part of the Library Skills @Lancaster programme through the 'Researcher Development' pathway. The 'Researcher Development' pathway is designed to support both students and staff to develop the information literacy and Open Research skills they need to progress in their research and careers. All sessions delivered as part of the pathway will be repeated on a termly basis. The pathway will support researchers and students with the following areas: 

  • Understanding the principles of Open Research
  • Engaging with Open Research practices
  • Managing research data and creating Data Management Plans (DMPs)
  • Publishing research outputs
  • Understanding Open Access
  • Utilising researcher profile tools and bibliometrics
  • Evidencing research impact

View our full calendar of upcoming events here.