Open Research Skills Framework
The Open Research Skills Framework (the Framework) consolidates essential open research practices and concepts throughout the research life cycle into clearly defined, thematic groupings. These themes have been developed through consultation with researchers, research leads, and the Open Research Fellows at The University of Manchester.
The Framework serves as a valuable tool for individual researchers to assess the openness of their current practices, for schools and departments to evaluate the state of open research in their areas, and for identifying the skills and support needed to enhance engagement with open research practices.
Get Involved
The Framework is a dynamic resource that continually evolves, adapting to changes in the open research landscape. We aim to reflect the wide range of open, transparent, and reproducible research practices happening across The University of Manchester, from individual researchers to institutional initiatives. If you have expertise in any of the key themes or practices outlined below, or if there are additional practices you believe should be included, whether cross-disciplinary or discipline-specific, then, please get in touch. Additionally, we are actively welcoming any enquiries from researchers, who may have an interest in developing and delivering open research training, and potentially becoming a ‘My Research Essentials Training Partner’.
Transparent methods
Being transparent and sharing research methodologies openly to ensure research is rigorous and reproducible.
Key practices: pre-registration; protocol sharing; methods papers; co-production; community engagement; transparent qualitative methods.
Responsible methods
Promoting responsible research methods to mitigate questionable practices and ensure ethical, high-quality, and reproducible results.
Key practices: statistical literacy and techniques; addressing questionable research practices; replication studies; adversarial collaboration; big team science.
Communication and publishing
Supporting innovative Open Access publishing models and responsible research metrics to enhance the transparent and meaningful dissemination of research.
Key practices: Open Access publishing; recognising authorship and contribution; responsible metrics; Open Peer Review; executable papers/books.
Open software
Developing and sharing open-source software and code maximises the potential for reuse and contributes to robust, reproducible research methods.
Key practices: Open-source software and code; version control and code documentation; licensing and citation.
Open data
Managing and sharing research data transparently ensures that data can be reused, validated, and built upon by other researchers.
Key practices: FAIR research data; data stewardship; data management planning; data publishing; open formats and licensing; Data Access Statements.
Contact us
Contact the team at: openresearch@manchester.ac.uk.