BR-UK Webinar: Open science and the importance of pre-registration

Open research is the practice of making not only the final output of a research process (e.g., the journal article) openly available, but as much of the research process and intermediate research objects (e.g., data and code) as possible available too.

In this webinar, Dr Sharon Cox will discuss BR-UK early approaches to Open Science and longer-term commitments. Professor Marcus Munafo will discuss different aspects of open research, and the difference between making our research open (which may not always be appropriate) vs FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable). He will also talk about the benefits – moral, societal, scholarly, and pragmatic – that can flow from a more transparent approach to how we conduct and report our research. Dr Harry Tattan-Birch will discuss the fears around pre-registration, that it might act as a straightjacket, stifling scientific creativity and forcing people to stick to a plan that they (or peer-reviewers) later realise is flawed. He will discuss how changes from the pre-registered plan are commonplace and, when scientifically justified, should be recommended not discouraged. Using examples he will highlight typical cases where such changes are necessary and how they should be reported and justified.

Speakers:

• Dr Sharon Cox, University College London - BR-UK Deputy Director; Principal Research Fellow, UCL.
• Professor Marcus Munafo, University of Bristol - Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor - Research Culture; Professor of Biological Psychology and MRC Investigator.
• Dr Harry Tattan-Birch, University College London - Research Fellow.