Why aren’t we doing more with open research?

Open research – the practice of making as much of our research process as freely available as possible – is increasingly mainstream, required by funders and recognised by a growing number of institutions in their promotion frameworks.

But why should we make our research open? Who benefits from this? Perhaps we need to think harder about how we can make the most of our open research outputs – the study protocols, information sheets, consent forms, data and code, and so on. How can we ensure that the public receives the greatest return on their investment in our work? One area where there may be huge untapped potential is education, not just higher education, but secondary education.

Psychology is currently the second most popular A-level and one of the most popular undergraduate degree courses. And yet the vast array of data deposits generated by primary academic research remains largely unused, in part because they are not designed to be accessible beyond a narrow academic research community. If they could be, for example, by creating tags that link these deposits to specific aspects of the curriculum, or specific statistical tests that need to be taught, they could be incorporated into the educational curriculum.

And it's not just the data and code that could be useful – seeing a real study protocol, information sheet, and consent form would create materials to allow teachers to set up classroom discussions of what good study design looks like, what counts as informed consent, how we achieve it, and so on.

We're currently exploring this at Bristol, working with local schools, teachers and pupils to understand what they would find useful, and what they would need to be able to make use of open research assets on our institutional repository, data.bris. We're also looking at how this approach could be extended to undergraduate education – again, for example, including tags that allow others to search for data sets that could be used to teach t-tests, linear regression and so on. All in the context of real data collected to answer real questions, and with a corresponding (open access) publication.

We know that this is done already – some courses ask students to identify data deposits and attempt to reproduce the reported findings. But we could make this much easier, and extend the potential reach of our open research outputs, rather than creating deposits that languish, gathering electronic dust.

Victoria Domone, Head of Psychology at Redmaids' High School in Bristol, is one of the partners on the project. In her view, although psychology A Level teaching delivers a theoretical grounding in core theories and research studies outlined in the course specification, where more contemporary studies are concerned, teaching resources are not designed to give more than a brief summary.

She believes there is a missed opportunity for students to scrutinise the finer details of research processes, and to fully understand the place of current studies in shaping our knowledge of human experience in a wider context beyond the lab. Our project, which aims to bridge the link between the specification and current research studies in the field, is an exciting prospect for psychology teachers and students alike.

In Victoria's words: 'Our partnership between the University of Bristol and local schools such as Redmaids' School is intended to demystify modern research processes for A Level students, and elevate their practical skills. The hope is that this project will provide invaluable enrichment resources for those students seeking further study in the field of psychology after Sixth Form study.

Access to protocol documents will inform students on exactly how research studies are conducted in an ethically sound way to produce valid data. Students will benefit from becoming more familiar with academic reporting conventions and the real-world applications of study findings.'

Footnote: Root around the data deposits generated by the Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group at the University of Bristol.

Marcus Munafò is Professor of Biological Psychology and MRC Investigator, and Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor - Research Culture, at the University of Bristol. [email protected].

Open Research in Undergraduate Education

Richard Clarke is a lecturer in psychological research methods at the University of Gloucester.

I'm constantly seeking ways to show how what might seem like 'dry' statistical and methodological content can lead to genuinely meaningful, real-world impact. To me, open research is the best way to achieve this. Showing students real data and real ethical considerations, presented alongside a well-written article, is unparalleled in demonstrating that the skills they are developing could soon lead to similarly impactful research of their own.

However, finding suitable datasets or protocols for these topics can be incredibly time-consuming. I often encounter studies with incomplete metadata, unclear variables, or insufficient documentation, making their analyses difficult to interpret, even for me, let alone for students. A central database of open protocols, complete with transparent ethical outlines, participant recruitment details, and well-labelled datasets, would save hours of searching and preparation.

Of course, creating and maintaining such a resource is not without challenges. Ensuring privacy, addressing consent requirements, and curating consistent metadata standards all demand significant effort, and incorporating tags that allow us to find the materials we need for our teaching. For this reason, I commend Marcus and his colleagues for undertaking such an endeavour. I believe it's worth it. In particular, this resource will be valuable for both A-level students and undergraduate students.

By integrating high-quality, open materials into our teaching, we can empower future researchers to view openness not merely as an abstract ideal, but as a practical, transformative approach that enhances both the rigour, reach and accessibility of psychological science.