Open science, which refers to the practice of sharing research, data, and findings freely with the public, is becoming increasingly common as recognition of its benefits grows. It aims to make science more transparent, easier to reproduce, and open to more people, including students, researchers, and even curious citizens.
CMU Libraries, which launched one of the nation’s first open science programs in an academic library back in 2018, is continuing to support students, instructors, and researchers who are looking for ways to integrate open science into their work. This fall, a team of CMU librarians published a set of five accessible and interactive modules designed to make adopting open science straightforward and simple.
“Researchers are increasingly expected to share data and publications openly due to funder policies, so it’s really important that students learn these practices to prepare them for future research careers,” Open Science Program Director Melanie Gainey said. “One of the challenges of adopting open science practices is that it can be overwhelming to know where to start. These modules serve as a starting place for opening up research, providing practical tips and considerations for students and researchers in any discipline.”
She added, “The Libraries provide a lot of this training in the form of workshops and class and research group visits — but we wanted to also provide a resource that serves as a reference guide so people can get help when they need it.”
Goal
- To offer students, instructors, and researchers across disciplines and institutions a starting point for making research open, while contextualizing the importance of open science in the broader research enterprise.
How We Helped
- Gainey, Open Knowledge Librarian Emily Bongiovanni, and STEM Librarians Chasz Griego, Kristen Scotti, and Huajin Wang worked together to create five new instruction modules focusing on foundational practices for open science.
- Each module contains considerations and strategies for making research open and includes interactive assessment questions, a curated selection of resources from the Libraries, tailored to support the CMU community in opening up their research, and concludes with a reflection prompt to inspire deeper exploration of how you might make your own research more open.
- The modules are flexible and can be completed individually or as a sequence. They cover topics like principles and core practices of open science, open research data management practices, reproducibility, and openly sharing research.
Results
- The team published the modules on Canvas at the end of September, and they are now available to students, instructors, and researchers at any institution and across disciplines.
- Students can use these modules as a stand-alone resource or as part of a course. To use them as a stand-alone resource, visit this link and sign in with your Andrew credentials if you’re part of the CMU community, or a Google or LinkedIn login.
- CMU instructors can also integrate the modules into their Canvas courses and either use them as they are, or modify them to suit their specific disciplinary context. For help integrating the modules into your Canvas course site, contact Gainey at mgainey@andrew.cmu.edu.