Open Practice

Support for Open Practice

Open practice brings greater transparency, robustness, and reusability to research. It includes approaches that support reproducibility, research integrity, and wider engagement across the research lifecycle. The Library provides guidance, training, and one-to-one support on open research practices and how they can be embedded into project planning, workflows, and dissemination.

What we support

• Pre-registration and registered reports. Guidance on planning and recording study protocols, hypotheses, and methods in advance.
• Ethical considerations for openness. Guidance on openness in ways that remain appropriate to consent, confidentiality, and discipline-specific requirements.
• Open workflows, transparency, and reproducibility. Advice on making research processes more transparent, reliable, and robust.
• Preprints and early sharing of research. Guidance on open dissemination routes as part of responsible research communication.
• Responsible journal selection. Guidance on choosing appropriate journals and avoiding problematic or misleading publishing venues.
• Responsible metrics and assessment. Guidance on using metrics and indicators carefully and in context.
• Public and community engagement in research. Advice on open and participatory approaches where relevant.

Key guidance and resources

For detailed guidance, start with the Open Research Practices guide. Additional resources are available via Self-directed resources and external learning materials.

Related services

• Research Publishing for rights retention, routes to open access, repository deposit, and publishing agreements
• Research Data Management for Data Management Plans, FAIR practice, data organisation, storage, and publishing
• Workshops and Events for current training opportunities

Read the Open Practice Guide

Support and consultation

The Library offers advice and support for researchers who want to embed open practice in project design, strengthen transparency and reproducibility, or understand how open approaches relate to publishing, data, and research assessment. For individual advice, contact: