Putting these blog contributions together gave us a kaleidoscope of Open Research attitudes and practices from our research community. The contributions in this blogpost are an example of this. We have contributions from a variety of researchers including Open Research Leads, new staff members, and postgraduate researchers. They each highlight different aspects and benefits of Open Research practices, showing how widely they can be applied.

Connecting these contributions is the fact Library Research Services can support the process underlying each of the Open Research benefits.

Whether it’s established processes like uploading an author’s research outputs to the Discovery Research Portal or doing bespoke town-hall style Open Research training with entire Schools, our team provides a range of services that enable researchers to be more Open. We even got a mention in a few of the contributions, which we were grateful for.

As an education professional, with interest in school-based, university level, and lifelong learning I am crucially aware that we have access to the most up to date research. As a sector, education often ‘talks the talk’ but then, on occasion, relies on anecdote or personal bias. Everyone from schoolteachers to university professors are at risk from this. This is why knowledge should not be hidden or protected but made available so that everyone can make critically, evidence informed decisions about their practice and to contribute to the wider social good. And furthermore, accepted ‘wisdom’ and popular misconceptions can be challenged, or dangerous ‘groupthink’ avoided.  
  
My own research focusses on, amongst other things, informal learning, and within the Academy I support others in developing their scholarship. This means it is essential I can share my own research, using channels such as the Discovery Research Portal, blogposts, online subject repositories, specialist and mass media – for example the Times Educational Supplement, and even social media. This is not a one-way process, and we should never underestimate the capability, and rigour, of grassroots practitioners involved in research. By utilising these less traditional venues we can connect and collaborate, reducing the likelihood of bias and misinformation creeping into our work and adversely affecting wider society.  

In the School of Humanities, Social Sciences, and Law we have had great support from Library Research Services which has allowed staff to publicise and share their work, enhancing their own, and the institutional profile. Colleagues from Library Research Services have joined us at School Away Days and during Staff Development sessions to provide individual, tailored help to colleagues.  

Richard Holme 
Reader in Educational Studies  
School of Humanities, Social Sciences, and Law  

Dr. Ahmed Hassan Ahmed and Dr. Yang Wang serve as the Open Research Leads for the School of Business. We believe that Open Research promotes transparency and accessibility, enabling the free sharing of findings, data, and methodologies. In fields like Business, Economics, and Accounting & Finance, where data integrity and methodological rigor are crucial, Open Research practices—such as open access publications and data sharing—enhance both the quality and credibility of our work. By making our research openly available, we foster greater trust and enable others—researchers, practitioners, and policymakers—to build on our work. 

In early 2024, we hosted an Open Research town hall for the School of Business with a speaker from the Library Research Services team, which received positive feedback from participants. We also provided school-level feedback for the REF open research-related consultancy. 

Ahmed Hassan Ahmed and Yang Wang 
Senior Lecturer and Lecturer 
Open Research Leads for the School of Business 

Publishing pre-prints is very important and not just because you are giving the research community timely and free access to your research, but also because it provides faster dissemination and increased visibility of your research. It is a win-win situation! 
 
Many journals promote the publication of preprints, and often they directly submit your manuscript (before the revision) to a pre-print server like Research Square.

There is a growing list of preprint repositories for researchers to choose from. We use BioRxiv for both finding preprints and publishing.

Laureano de la Vega 
Reader & Division Head in Cancer Research  
Open Research Lead for School of Medicine  

Open Access is vital in materials research as it removes barriers to knowledge, ensuring that research can be freely accessed by anyone, anywhere. In particular, with the integration of artificial intelligence in research, Open Access extends beyond publications to include the underlying data and code, further enhancing transparency and reproducibility. By making our work openly available, we increase the visibility and impact of our findings, promote interdisciplinary collaboration, and empower researchers and practitioners worldwide—especially those in underfunded or developing regions. At the University of Dundee, embracing Open Research principles enables us to contribute to a more equitable, transparent, and innovative research landscape.  

Alireza Valizadeh, PhD,   
Post Doctoral Researcher
School of Science and Engineering

The paradigm shift toward Open Research has transformed education, particularly in terms of learning for sustainability. This shift enables unrestricted knowledge sharing, allowing more inclusive and equitable access to research and educational materials. Open Research has enhanced teaching and learning processes through the latest research in sustainable practices, promoting interdisciplinary learning and cross-cultural collaborations. Notably, in learning for sustainability, this transformation supports developing critical thinking and problem-solving skills for addressing global environmental, social and economic challenges. Consequently, Open Research fosters a culture of lifelong learning and informed decision-making in sustainable development.  

Olatunbosun Ogunseemi 
Research Postgraduate, Education and Society 
School of Humanities, Social Sciences and Law 

Library Research Services provide a wide range of services to help researchers make their work visible, accessible, and useable to as many people as possible.
If you want to know more about any of the services below, check out the links or email our team: discovery@dundee.ac.uk

Launched during International Open Access Week 2024, the Open Research Blog Series is a collection of testimonies, views, and opinions on Open Research from the University of Dundee research community. These have been collected by the Library and published to highlight the variety of Open Research practices employed by researchers across the University.