The University's Open Research Position Statement

2.1 The University is committed to supporting the freedom of researchers to pursue new knowledge and to choose how and where to publish. Yet, within that free choice, the University encourages outputs of research to be made as open as possible and only as closed as necessary. The nature of research outputs, and their ownership, varies considerably both by discipline and by research context. Across the disciplinary spectrum there are a wide range of cultural settings that influence both capacity for and appropriateness of open research. It is recognised that restrictions to research output dissemination may apply, for example, when dealing with commercial interests, publisher requirements, third party rights holders, GDPR, participant or patient confidentiality, and confidential/sensitive data. Any access restrictions need to be proportionate and justified. Researchers are encouraged to work with the University’s professional services to determine the most appropriate approach in such circumstances, which may mean that certain research outputs, such as data (qualitative or quantitative), should remain closed or on limited access, or otherwise anonymised or pseudonymised. The University of Cambridge Research Data Management Policy Framework addresses how the University manages these issues while ensuring compliance with funder requirements.  

2.2 The University relies on its researchers to uphold principles of scholarly rigour so that open materials are of the highest research quality and, where appropriate, will aid research reproducibility. It is expected that research transparency is exhibited in all disciplines, and that open and transparent research practices and behaviours are embedded throughout the course of research. This may include any of the following practices, as far as is possible and appropriate, thus recognising that some of these will not be feasible in all cases or applicable to all disciplines: 

• Ensuring all article publications are made open access in a timely manner. This can be achieved by self-archiving the accepted publication in the institutional repository (i.e. ‘green’ open access, using the University’s Self-Archiving Policy) and by making the version of record open access with an appropriate open licence (e.g. ‘gold’, ‘hybrid’ or ‘diamond’ open access).
• Making early versions of papers available as preprints. 
• Exploring open access publication options for books, book chapters and edited volumes that enable widest possible dissemination and access.
• Making the underlying data – in all its varied forms – relating to research projects and associated with publications openly available as early as possible and only as closed as necessary (e.g. to protect sensitive or confidential data). 
• Making methods and protocols openly available as early as possible. 
• Openly sharing non-traditional research outputs, such as code, software, hardware, creative works, reports, exhibitions, translations.
• Where appropriate to discipline, using study preregistration or registered reports as publication methods to support research transparency and sharing of null or negative results.
• Recording and curating metadata (information about the research process, research findings, research data, research materials) during the course of research and reporting this alongside relevant research outputs. This may include, for example, sharing digital or digitised versions of laboratory or research notebooks.
• Enabling discovery, access to and reuse of research outputs by: depositing those outputs, licensed appropriately, in a suitable online repository; adopting persistent identifiers for outputs (e.g. DOIs) and individuals (ORCID); providing identifiers relating to external funding; communicating and connecting related outputs by providing data/code/method availability statements in publications and citing outputs (and their persistent identifiers) within reference lists. Taking these actions when sharing data, metadata or code will help adherence to the FAIR principles, ensuring outputs are Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable. 
• Exploring alternative and more open forms of peer review in which aspects of the peer review process are made publicly available, either before or after publication.
• Providing transparency around each author’s contribution to a work through author contribution statements or CRediT (Contributor Role Taxonomy), and fairly attributing others’ contributions to the research in acknowledgement statements.
• Sharing high quality educational resources openly to support open access to, and reuse of, materials to support research, teaching and learning.
• Widening participation in research by exploring collaborative and inclusive approaches to research and knowledge creation via, for example, citizen science and participatory research.

2.3 Researchers are expected to maintain an awareness of their funder’s terms and policies relating to open research and to always act in accordance with the expectations of those funding the research as well as with the minimum thresholds set by regulatory bodies. 

2.4 Researchers are encouraged to enhance research culture locally and more generally by embracing and advocating openness, transparency, integrity, inclusivity and accessibility when collaborating and communicating with others, throughout the research lifecycle and during research dissemination. Researchers are expected to follow the University’s Guidance on the Responsible Use of Metrics in Research Assessment when assessing the work of others, while also supporting others to do so. This includes following the principles of DORA during hiring, promotion and appraisal processes, and recognition of open research practices and outputs in all their varied forms. 

Specific guidance on open research activities, support and policies are available on the University’s Open Research, Open Access and Research Data Management websites. These are managed by Cambridge University Libraries.

Additional guidance and support for Cambridge researchers is available from the Research Information site (University login required).