Liverpool John Moores statement on Open Research

This statement sets out the university’s commitment to Open Research. We encourage all LJMU staff and students engaged in research to consider how this research could be conducted in the most open way possible.

We understand that Open Research will look different across disciplines and that making changes to working practices takes time. This statement represents one stage of the process that will grow and develop as we work together to build an Open Research culture at LJMU.

What is Open Research?

Open Research is the practice of openly sharing outputs from all stages of the research life cycle. This includes publications and research data but also other outputs such as protocols, methods, software and code. It is based on the idea that research is a public good that should be freely accessible to anyone.

Why is Open Research important?

We believe Open Research leads to better research and that it can support our ambitions to grow the quality and impact of our research. Open Research practices allow us to make our research processes transparent to facilitate examination of our findings and demonstrate our research integrity. They make our research more visible and help us collaborate. And they make our research more reusable by others, who want to build on our findings, and by ourselves, for instance in our teaching.

LJMU undertakes research that matters to people and Open Research helps it reach more of those people, from the largest astrophysics group to the smallest community project. By giving our research the widest possible audience, we boost its power to transform people, lives and opportunities.

What does this mean for you?

LJMU researcher

We encourage you to make all your research outputs as open as possible, as closed as necessary. There is already widespread engagement with Open Access at LJMU through the deposit of accepted manuscripts in the university’s repository, but the same is not yet true for other types of output such as data and protocols. Making a broader set of outputs open may require you to change some of the ways you work, and we will support you to make those changes.

LJMU partner

We will work within all necessary legal, commercial and ethical guidelines to make sure that sharing of research outputs is done appropriately. Our default position is that these outputs should be openly shared, where possible, for the benefit of LJMU researchers, their collaborators, study participants, the wider research community and beyond.

What do you need to do?

All LJMU staff and students engaged in research are expected to take the following actions.

Make research publications openly available as early as possible. Journal articles and conference papers must be deposited in the university’s institutional repository and other outputs (including book chapters, monographs, reports, artistic creations, compositions and exhibitions) should be made open.
Make research data openly available by depositing it in the university's institutional data repository or a suitable subject repository. Indicate the availability of and access to underlying data in all publications by including a data access statement.
Make research outcomes as transparent as possible by documenting and sharing the research process (for instance by preregistering studies, sharing protocols and methodologies and publishing software and code).
Make outputs as discoverable and connected as possible by using persistent identifiers (such as ORCID IDs for people and DOIs for outputs).

What will LJMU do?

LJMU makes the following commitments to help you meet these requirements and develop an Open Research culture at the university.

Communicate clear expectations of all LJMU staff and students engaged in research through publication of policies outlining mandatory and recommended Open Research activities.
Enable open dissemination of research outputs by providing systems for depositing and sharing publications, research data and theses.
Enhance knowledge and confidence of Open Research requirements and opportunities by delivering training.
Support navigation of Open Research processes by providing guidance and instruction about procedures.
Expand availability of Open Access for LJMU authors by subscribing to appropriate agreements and initiatives with publishers.
Facilitate the flow of research information across university and external systems through institutional membership of ORCID.
Showcase excellent Open Research practice from LJMU and beyond by organising events dedicated to Open Research.
Empower academic staff and students to create their own Open Access journals through the hosting and support of the LJMU Open Journals Service.