Open Research Practice
The Academic Engagement Team: Open Research work at the heart of NTU’s research communities, at a School, Research Centre and institutional level to shape and champion Open Research at NTU.
We help NTU researchers reflect the core values and commitments within the Open Research Position Statement in their practice so that they can:
- Open up the research process through transparent and inclusive methods and results
- Publish and disseminate research assets, employing a range of systems and techniques to ensure they are Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable (FAIR)
- Make best use of researcher profiles (e.g. ORCID) and research identifiers to promote the visibility of research and the researchers behind it.
- Develop robust approaches to research data management, ensuring data is handled securely, ethically, and in line with Open Research principles
For our team, Open Research is bigger than a policy or institutional requirement, it's research done right. We engage with all parties involved in making research open – including postgraduate researchers, NTU academic staff, technical staff, professional service colleagues, as well as external stakeholders including publishers and networks such as the UKRN. Collectively, we can find pathways to openness that honour the bold aspirations of our research, and the core values we all share.
Our Core Open Research Values
We invited our researchers to talk to us about what openness means for them. Our 'Open Research Values and Practice' video celebrates the core values that unite us to make NTU research accessible, reproducible, reliable, and inclusive.
Our researchers reflect on how they embody these values through a wide range of open research practice, including but not limited to citizen science and crowdsourcing, participatory research, preregistration, sharing of data and software. Through these practices they demonstrate the integrity of their research and unlock the potential for real-world change.
Open Research Practice: Case Studies
If you are considering what Open Research practice in your area might look like or are seeking to understand how these practices might fit into the process designing, delivering and disseminating your research, you can now access NTU’s bank of Open Research Practice Case Studies for inspiration.
The practices adopted by researchers ranged widely, from the inclusion of co-design principles in research design, to the use of pre-prints and open access publishing, and the use and creation of open data and source code. Many of these case studies come from the Open Research Awards which were launched in 2024 to reward and recognise Open Research practices at NTU.
Search our Open Research Case Studies
NTU’s bank of Open Research Practice case studies are available for inspiration.
NTU Open Research Week
The Open Research Team offers dedicated Open Research training as part of NTU’s Researcher Development and Training. This includes a full programme of events for the annual NTU Open Research Week.
Available for all NTU staff and postgraduate researchers, this week offers a great opportunity to explore what openness might mean for your research through online workshops, webinars, and panels.
This year, Open Research Week will be taking place between 3rd –7th March. It will explore themes of building public trust in research; open publishing; open qualitative research; and community collaboration. It also includes sessions to introduce and invite feedback on NTU’s Open Research Archive (NORA), which launches later this year.
The current schedule of events is below and sign up is now open.
If you would like to put yourself forward to deliver an additional session or be a panellist, please email LibOpenResearch@ntu.uk
NTU Open Research Week 2025
Improving Trustworthiness in Research - The ENTRUST-PE Project with Dr Emma Fisher, a Senior Research Fellow, at the University of Bath. 10:00-10:50, Online.
Dr Emma Fisher is a Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for Pain Research at the University of Bath. Her primary research interests focus on the risk factors of developing chronic pain after an acute musculoskeletal injury in children and adolescents, funded by Versus Arthritis. In addition, Dr Fisher is interested in blast trauma in children, evidence-based medicine, quality, and trustworthiness of pain science. Her other research interests include mechanisms in pain transitions, menstrual pain, and virtual reality. Register now.
"NTU Open Research Archive (NORA) Preview and User Feedback Session" - Library Open Research Team. 12:00-12:50, Online.
Join the Library Open Research Team to preview the new NTU Open Research Archive (NORA), launching as a replacement for IRep later this year. This significant investment will upgrade NTU's Open Research infrastructure and enable greater opportunities to showcase research at NTU. Discover its features, functionalities, and share your feedback to help shape the platform and ensure it meets the needs of the research community. This session will be repeated on Tuesday and Thursday if you can't make this time. Register now.
Integrating Open Research Practices into Research Planning - Zahra Rahemtulla (Sport Science) and Gabrielle Walton (Fashion Marketing Management and Communication) - 14:00 - 14:50 (Online).
Open Research practices offer significant benefits to quality and impact of our research. This session explores how to integrate open research practices into your projects from the very beginning. We will discuss how sharing data (both qualitative and quantitative) increases transparency, reproducibility, and public trust. Open research fosters collaboration and amplifies diverse perspectives, leading to more equitable research. Join Zahra Rahemtulla (Sport Science) and Gabrielle Walton (Fashion Marketing Management and Communication) for this session, facilitated by the Library Open Research Team. Register now
"The Challenges of Openness: Can Qualitative Data Be Truly Open?" A Discussion with Liam Cahill (Psychology) and Sarah Smith (Nottingham Business School). 10:00-10:50, Online.
If you work with qualitative data, this session is for you! Liam Cahill (Psychology) and Sarah Smith (Nottingham Business School) lead a critical discussion on sharing qualitative data. It is an opportunity to explore the ethical, practical, and methodological considerations that arise in making qualitative data ‘open’ and join the debate by sharing your insights from practice. Register now.
"Exploring Power Dynamics and Equity in Qualitative Research" -Maranda Ridgway (Nottingham Business School) and Sarah Smith (Nottingham Business School). 11:00-12:30, Online.
This workshop is designed for qualitative researchers interested in exploring how researcher-participant power dynamics can contribute to—or hinder—equitable approaches to data collection. This session centres on principles of Open Research, inviting participants to explore how offering individuals the agency to choose their interviewer can transform research relationships and outcomes. We will discuss the complexities of intersectional reflexivity, examining how researchers' identities and positionalities influence their interactions and the knowledge produced. Discussions will consider the benefits and challenges of matching interviewers and participants based on shared characteristics while critically addressing the risks of homogenising identities and oversimplifying diverse lived experiences.
This workshop will adopt a participative, collaborative approach to share good practices in embedding inclusion and equity in research, empowering participants as co-creators of knowledge. This workshop is open to all colleagues and academic and professional services, regardless of career path – the intention is to offer a supportive space to reflect, learn, and innovate for more ethical and impactful qualitative research. Register now.
"NTU Open Research Archive (NORA) Preview and User Feedback Session" - Library Open Research Team. 13:00-13:50, Online.
Join the Library Open Research Team to preview the new NTU Open Research Archive (NORA), launching as a replacement for IRep later this year. This significant investment will upgrade NTU's Open Research infrastructure and enable greater opportunities to showcase research at NTU. Discover its features, functionalities, and share your feedback to help shape the platform and ensure it meets the needs of the research community. This session will be repeated on Monday and Thursday, if you can't make this time. Register now.
Are you ready for NORA? Unlocking research potential with persistent identifiers (PIDs) and profiles - Library Open Research Team. 14:00-14:50, Online.
PIDs and profiles (DOIs, ORCID) are the building blocks of an open research infrastructure that helps to make research assets more FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable). NORA will support outputs with existing PIDS (e.g. published research, data and code deposited in a subject repository) but will also help to unlock and showcase NTU’s research potential by assigning PIDs to research assets that exist outside the of the scholarly communications ecosystem. Join the Open Research Team to find out what this might means for your planned research activity, what steps you can take to ensure your ORCID is up-to-date and how to get those assets that are currently without PIDs ready for the repository. Register now.
Open Research 'Quick Wins': Building Transparency in Research through Effective Data Access Statements - Library Open Research Team. 11:00-11:50, Online.
If you are looking for a quick and easy way to highlight your commitment to openness and research integrity, then including Data Access Statements (DAS) within your publications is a great place to start.
DAS are pivotal in fostering transparency, reproducibility, and openness in academic research, serving as a key open research indicator and a valuable metric for REF2029 reporting. This session will demystify these statements. It will offer practical examples and solutions to common challenges, including the archiving and accessibility of sensitive or restricted data, to help you write high-quality statements in accordance with open research best practice and policy. Register now.
Open Access: Debunking Myths and Exploring Realities – Library Open Research Team. 11:00-11:50, Online.
In this session, the Library Open Research Team will tackle common myths about open access publishing and reveal the benefits of exploring different pathways to Open Access. Learn how to navigate publishing options in terms of Open Access and choose what’s right for your research, to promote greater readership and reach of your work. Register now.
"NTU Open Research Archive (NORA) Preview and User Feedback Session" - Library Open Research Team. 13:00 - 13:50, Online.
Join the Library Open Research Team to preview the new NTU Open Research Archive (NORA), launching as a replacement for IRep later this year. This significant investment will upgrade NTU's Open Research infrastructure and enable greater opportunities to showcase research at NTU. Discover its features, functionalities, and share your feedback to help shape the platform and ensure it meets the needs of the research community. This session will be repeated on Monday and Tuesday, if you can't make this time. Register now.
Spotlight on Open Access Books – Library Open Research Team. 10:00-10:50, Online.
When we talk about open access publishing, the reality is that journal articles receive most of the attention thanks to the REF open access policy and maturity of open journal business models. However, there is increased interest in open access for books following UKRI’s decision to mandate it for longform outputs acknowledging their funding and most publishers have now developed open access policies and business models for longform outputs. This session puts the spotlight on open access for books and explains the current policy, funder and business model landscape. Join the Library Open Research Team to find out your options for publishing open access, hear from researchers currently navigating the process, and how to find and make use of open access books in your teaching and research. Register now.
'For Whose Benefit? Effective Co-Designed Research in Practice’ – with Ana Souto (Architecture & the Built Environment), Penelope Siebert (Social Work and Health), Jack Benjamin (Collaboratory Project, Arts and Humanities), and Chase Staras (Psychology). 12:00-12:50, Online.
Join us for a dynamic panel session in which we will explore the question: how do we meaningfully co-design research? In this session we will explore the importance of developing equitable and trusting relationships to identify what should be researched, why, for whose benefit. Led by NTU researchers with extensive experience in this area, Ana Souto, Penelope Siebert, Jack Benjamin, and Chase Staras, this session offers practical advice and reflections on fostering meaningful partnerships. Register now.
Getting Started with Effective Partnership Building - with Josh Woods and Sadaf Hussein (Research Strategy and Operations), and Kelly Auty (Head of Knowledge Exchange Development and Evaluation), and Steve Corbett. 2:00-2:50, Online.
Partnerships allow for increased participation and engagement in research, helps align research with societal needs, and leverages broader expertise and more resources – key aims of Open Research. How, though, do you go about building partnerships? How do you identify suitable potential partners and pitch your research expertise to these different audiences. In this session we will address these questions and discuss how open research practices can facilitate partnership building. Register now.
Contact us
We are dedicated to active conversations about the barriers and enablers to greater ‘openness’ in research. Speak to us to about building systems, guidance and infrastructure that meet your research needs.