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Open Science: Open Science at Berkeley

A guide for Open Science at UC Berkeley.

Open Science is an umbrella term for an approach to knowledge creation that favors transparency, inclusivity and reproducibility of all components of the research process.

In a traditional or “closed” science workflow the researcher may produce data, code, and methods, but generally only releases a paper. This paper is often located behind a paywall or requires payment to be published. While the final paper may or may not be accessible to other researchers or the public, the components or research outputs associated with the work often remain hidden.

Open Science offers a different approach encompassing is a set of practices such as:

  • Open Protocols, Proposals, Registrations and Methods
  • Open Data Collection, Management and Analysis
  • Open Source Software and Code Sharing
  • Open Access Publishing
  • Authorship + Contributorship - a transparent approach to identifying and crediting authors and contributors on a project
  • Open Educational Resources
  • Citizen Science

Image credits: Ariel Deardorff, UCSF

Open Science Resources at UC Berkeley

At Berkeley, there are various resources to start you on your path towards open, transparent and reproducible research. We rely on many proprietary products in our day-to-day work, but there is no one-size-fits-all way of practicing open science. Be flexible, adaptable and curious in your approach!

Open Science Workflow Tools

  • OSF Institutions is a part of a suite of cloud-based applications that support and enable reproducible open science allowing researchers to manage the full lifecycle of their research projects. OSF provides a platform for open research outputs including preprints through sites like MetaArXiv, registrations and preregistrations; and project sites to host project plans, results and associated files.

Data

Services: 

Products: 

  • Use Dryad to store and archive datasets
  • Use Zenodo to do the same for data, code and other supplemental materials.

Compare Dryad, Zenodo and other Repositories: https://zenodo.org/record/3946720

Writing + Citing

Writing: Make use of collaborative writing tools. Many of us use Microsoft Word or Google Docs as writing software. 

Products: 
  • Overleaf is an online collaborative LaTeX editor with integrated real-time preview. Sign up with your @berkeley.edu email for premium features.
  • Manubot is an open tool that allows you to write your manuscript in markdown, track it with git, automatically convert it to .html, .pdf, or .docx.

More information: https://guides.lib.berkeley.edu/write-cite

Citing: Streamline your research and writing workflows by adopting reference management software (also known as citation management software).

Products:
  • Zotero - is available as a web-based or desktop application that lets you collect, organize, annotate, cite, and share references.
  • EndNote is a fee-based tool, but available at a discount for Berkeley affiliates.
  • Paperpile is also fee-based, but used by many lab groups for its easy collaboration tools and integration with google docs.

More information: https://eps-libraries-berkeley.github.io/volt/Organizing/Reference_Management_and_Citations.html

Publishing

Preregistration - 

Some fields have adopted the practice of preregistration, or registration, to publicly file hypotheses and research plans. Example:

  • OSF Registries - timestamp a registrations of your research projects, discover existing registrations on OSF and across connected registries like ClinicalTrials.gov and Research Registry.

Preprints - 

There are many preprint sites available depending on your discipline and the focus of your article. In Earth Science, two examples are: EarthArXiv (Earth Science focused preprint site hosted by California Digital Library) and ESSOAR (Earth and Space Science Open Archive from the American Geophysical Union). Find a directory or preprint servers at ASAPbio.

Support for open access - 

Outreach & Impact

  • ORCID - consider the extended outreach and impact of your work. If you haven’t already, you can take a couple of quick steps to set up your public profile. Set up an ORCID, a persistent identifier that distinguishes your from other researchers. Increasingly publishers and funders require ORCIDs as part of your submission.
  • While Google Scholar is not “open,” it is a useful tool to create a public profile reflecting your work and allowing you  to track publications and citations, and follow the work of researchers in your field.

Workshops, Tutorials & Community