Workflows and key messages to enable Open Research

The movement towards more open research has significant impact on the culture and practice of all disciplines. Researchers are increasingly expected to consider the end user’s ability to reuse data and scholarly publications by sharing these outputs through repository systems. The approach of the University of St Andrews Library (Digital Research Division) is to consider the needs of researchers holistically and provide a joined up support service for Research Data Management and Open Access. We use a Research Information System (Pure) to present a single interface to researchers for recording and depositing all research outputs. The combination of import sources, synchronized data, connected repository, web services and customized portal are employed to maximize visibility of data and publications, while presenting a seamless experience for researchers. This paper will describe how we develop workflows that can be communicated through key messages, easily remembered by researchers, and mapped to existing research lifecycles. Workflows can be tailored to disciplinary needs, for example using existing metadata from subject-repositories already used by researchers. We will describe a range of solutions that include staff in the Library and School offices providing different levels of mediation, and the benefits of an overall joined up approach.PostprintPublisher PDFPeer reviewe

Building... then crossing bridges in support of open research

Following a restructure in May 2019, the University of St Andrews scholarly communications team moved out of the University Library and became embedded in Research and Innovation Services. For many years, the University Library Digital Research teams (including open access and research data management) have worked very closely with the University's research office to share knowledge, build relationships and provide support to researchers with a joint approach. At a time when most libraries are building their support for open research, it is unusual for the scholarly communications function to sit in a research office. In this talk, we will explore the opportunities presented by this change, such as the ability to communicate open research messages with a strong 'policy' context and being closer to the levers needed to facilitate the required cultural change in researcher behaviour. We will also discuss the challenges in developing the skills needed to support open research, including copyright and licensing expertise, repository maintenance, metadata creation and APC management alongside, rather than within, the library. We aim to present new perspectives on collaboration across departments and how crossing bridges can help drive the open research agenda.Publisher PDFPublisher PDFNon peer reviewe

Using a CRIS to support communication of research : mapping the publication cycle to deposit workflows for data and publications

This paper describes a case study to explore how we continue to develop our CRIS [at the University of St Andrews] and support the University’s research needs and how it has become an embedded tool for researchers to manage their research outputs and to enable Open Access and Open Data. The paper will show how we used researchers’ feedback and comments to develop a simple and easy to remember workflow mapped against existing and familiar research lifecycles. We examine some of the technical, practical and cultural issues we have encountered in implementing these workflows, and show how the CRIS as a single portal has streamlined tasks and reduced duplication of effort.PostprintOtherPeer reviewe

Getting to(o) easy: boosting Open Access compliance by tailoring approaches to researchers

The map contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2010.Poster presented at RepoFringe 2016 by Michael Bryce, Kyle Brady, Kirsty Knowles and Jackie Proven, all of the University of St Andrews. The introduction reads: "As a small, research-intensive university with diverse subject range, we tailor our approach to match researcher expectations within Schools and Centres to meet funder requirements and the University Open Access Policy.

Getting to(o) easy : boosting Open Access compliance by tailoring approaches to researchers

This poster was presented at Repository Fringe 2016, held in Edinburgh on 1st-2nd August 2016. The poster presents the processes and elements developed to support Open Access at St Andrews to boost compliance with funder and Research Excellence Framework (REF) open access policies.Publisher PDFNon peer reviewe

'Weather cloudy & cool harvest begun’: St Andrews output usage beyond the repository

St Andrews might be small but, as a research intensive University with around 700 research active staff and over 8500 students, its research output is considerable. The St Andrews Research Repository has been accepting deposits since 2006 and since 2007 the University has required electronic thesis submission. Use has grown and the repository currently comprises electronic theses, research articles, conference proceedings, working papers, book chapters, research monographs and other items. The Library Open Access and Cataloguing teams have marked several deposit milestones in the Repository - 5000 (February 2015), 8000 (July 2016) and 9000 (February 2017) - so content has risen sharply. Deposits of research publications are driven from a connected CRIS, primarily due to funderimposed Open Access mandates, with continued direct deposit of new theses and an ongoing programme of thesis digitisation adding to the increase. Our mature infrastructure and supporting processes mean the University has excellent funder compliance rates – RCUK (93%), Hefce (92%). But it's not all about compliance. We are keen to understand and share how institutional research outputs can have wide reach and visibility, and how the repository can be used to promote user engagement and public outreach with other content. We use reports from the British Library EThOS service and IRUS-UK (Institutional Repository Usage Statistics UK) for signs and hints of how downloaded items might be used and suggest how usage statistics might be publicly presented. In this brief 10 x 10 presentation we're excited to show several items from the St Andrews Research Repository and what we discovered about their life in St Andrews and beyond

Increasing uptake at St Andrews: Strategies for developing the research repository

This paper describes the repository services that have been developed at the University of St Andrews and our aim to maximise the benefits of a full text open access repository. We describe the integration with the University's Current Research Information System (CRIS) and the various strands of activity that make up the service. We conclude with our strategy to embed our repository services within the research community of the University.Postprin

The emerging role of institutional CRIS in facilitating Open Scholarship

Presented at LIBER 2015 24-26 June, London. This paper and presentation describe the evolution of institutional CRIS (Current Research Information Systems) from their traditional role as a tool managed by the Research Office to manage and assess research towards more widespread uses within institutions, in particular within the Library, to facilitate Open Science. Open Science or Scholarship is one of the hottest topics around. Organisations and funders from the G8 down stress the importance of openness in driving everything from global innovation through to more accountable governance; not to mention the more direct possibility that non-compliance could result in grant income drying up for individual researchers. It focuses on the UK, using St Andrews as a detailed example, describing the organisational, procedural and technological responses to this ‘open by default’ agenda, and why and how the Library is taking a leading role in these changes.Postprin

Using IRUS-UK to check repository health

This is a presentation that was given as part of the Joint Information Services Committee (Jisc) Digital Festival (Digifest 2015) 9-10 March, ICC Birmingham. It details the repository infrastructure, history of IRUS-UK implementation and metadata quality. A comparative approach shows the member network promotes learning from peers, involvement in developments, adoption and understanding of metrics, Open Access, sharing common standards and recommends IRUS-compliance for Pure via UK User Group.Postprin

Lessons in OA Compliance for HE (LOCH): University of St Andrews Case study

This is a presentation given at a workshop entitled 'Open Access: A Good Practice Exchange' which took place on the 7th of July 2015. The workshop was organised and delivered by ARMA (The Association of Research Managers and Administrators) and funded by the FOSTER (Facilitate Open Science Training for European Research) initiative which aims to embed open access and open science into the workflows of EU researchers. The main aim of the workshop was to equip research managers with a range of tools to promote open access. The workshop also aimed to provide strategies to monitor researcher engagement, as well as compliance with funding bodies and the open access policy for the post-2014 REF. The University of St Andrews Library was invited to share an update on ongoing efforts to promote open access across the University, with specific regard to the LOCH project (Lessons in Open Access Compliance for Higher Education).Postprin