Research

1.Ideas

2.Plan & Design

3.Data Sourcing

4.Data Governance

5.Data Analysis

7. Impact & Engagement

6. Publishing & Preservation

Ideas

The library helps researchers conduct thorough literature searches to develop and refine research questions. Our approach is structured into five main sections:

• Finding Databases
• Literature Review
• Systematic Reviews
• Researcher Networks on Campus
• Research Impact Areas

Research Information Skills

Plan & Design

Support for identifying funding opportunities and writing grant proposals is provided by the Research Office and Research Accounts.

Research Data Management (RDM) and Open Research practices that aim to meet institutional policy and funder requirements are supported by the library as follows:

RDM Support
Open Practice Guidance

Data Sourcing

The library supports researchers by offering access to essential resources. These include both digital and physical materials from local sources, such as the University's own research outputs and archives, as well as external sources like open data repositories and subscription-based content and databases.

Using our Heritage collections, Archives and Special collections
Data Collection Tools and Methods

Data Governance

Data Governance broadly covers approaches to working with data during the research cycle and include data organisation, management, storage, and policy. It is often called Data Stewardship and includes including compliance with data privacy and ethical considerations specific to different research fields and data types. A key concept is FAIR data.

Research Data Management Training
FAIR data

Data Analysis

To support researchers in understanding and processing their data while encouraging open practice. The library provides guidance and advice on the use of open tools and methods for data analysis, covering:

Data analysis
AI for research
Digital tools for research

Publishing & Preservation

Open and Digital Publishing The library provides help to enhance the visibility and impact of research through our suite of open publishing platforms.

Routes to Open Access
Making your publications Open Access
Research data publishing
Preservation support

Impact & Engagement

The library advises on how to publish openly and responsibly. Read about the University of Galway statement on responsible research metrics.

Impact Support

Researcher Workshops and Events

Guides for Research

Latest news

Open Research Forum: University of Galway's Research Publishing Policy: Empowering our Research Community

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 13:32:00 +0000
Save the date for our next Open Research Forum on 20 May 2026, “University of Galway's Research Publishing Policy: Empowering our Research Community”. This event is hosted by University of Galway Library Research Services.   Agenda: Wednesday, 20 May 12.00: Keynote: Arushi Sharma, Project SCOIR, Trinity College Dublin &

Beyond Closed Research Metrics: Rethinking Research Discovery and Rankings (part 2 of 2)

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 16:25:00 +0000
Traditionally, academic publishing has been closed, which means that readers can only access research outputs if you or the institution you are affiliated with pay for them through subscriptions. However, research metrics – approximate measures of how many papers have been published and how often they have been cited – are created by the same companies that publish and index the research. 

Beyond Closed Research Metrics: Rethinking Research Discovery and Rankings (part 1 of 2)

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 16:24:00 +0000
Major commercial research indexing services such as Web of Science (Clarivate) and Scopus (Elsevier/RELX) have transformed research discovery and benchmarking over the past few decades. However, many institutions are now reassessing their use of these services, due to considerations around cost, transparency, governance, and alignment with open research values. For example, institutions such

University of Galway joins international open research initiatives

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 15:20:00 +0000
University of Galway has recently signed three international initiatives that reflect the University’s wider commitment to Open Research and align with our Research Publishing Policy. These initiatives are: (1) the Barcelona Declaration on Open Research Information, (2) OurFuture Memory, and (3) OA2020. Joining these movements is part of a wider direction of travel to support more open

Dr Cillian Joy

Head of Research Services
Email: cillian.joyuniversityofgalway.ie
Open Research, Strategy and Improvement, Digital Publishing, Data Services, Partnerships, Policy

Oksana Dereza

Digital Library Developer
Email: oksana.derezauniversityofgalway.ie
Digital Projects, Using Data in Research, and Digital Publishing Platforms

Rosie Dunne

Research Services Librarian
Email: rosie.dunneuniversityofgalway.ie
091 49 5959
Research Skills, Using Databases, and Finding Information

Trish Finnan

Digital Publishing and Data Management Librarian
Email: trish.finnanuniversityofgalway.ie
091 49 5961
Data Management Plans (DMPs), Research Data Management (RDM), Open Publishing, Open Educational Resources (OER)

Kate Harrigan

Research Data Steward
Email: kathleen.harriganuniversityofgalway.ie
Research Data Stewardship, Management, and Curation

Bianca Pereira

Onboarding Coordinator Open Repositories Ireland (ORI)
Email: bianca.deoliveirapereirauniversityofgalway.ie
Open Repositories Ireland, Repository metadata

Dr Jen Smith

Open Research Librarian
Email: jen.smithuniversityofgalway.ie
Open Practice, Research Publishing, and Rights Retention

Michelle Tighe

Library Assistant, Research Services & Collection Management
Email: michelle.tigheuniversityofgalway.ie
Events, Administration, Communications, and Web