From: Colin Steele <[log in to unmask]> Date: Sun, Jan 28, 2018 at 7:02 PM In Conversation with the Wellcome Trust – sharing & managing research outputs https://unlockingresearch-blog.lib.cam.ac.uk/?p=1865 January 26, 2018 In July 2017, the Wellcome Trust updated their policy on the management and sharing of research outputs. This policy helps deliver Wellcome’s mission – to improve health for everyone by enabling great ideas to thrive. The University of Cambridge’s Research Data Management Facility invited Wellcome Trust to Cambridge to talk with their funded research community (and potential researchers) about what this updated policy means for them. On 5th December in the Gurdon Institute Tea Room, the Deputy Head of Scholarly Communication Dr Lauren Cadwallader, welcomed Robert Kiley, Head of Open Research, and David Carr, Open Research Programme Manager, from the Wellcome’s Open Research Team. This blog summarises the presentations from David and Robert about the research outputs policy and how it has been working and the questions raised by the audience. ********** Maximising the value of research outputs: Wellcome’s approach David Carr outlined key points about the new policy, which now, in addition to sharing openly publications and data, includes sharing software and materials as other valued outputs of research. An outputs management plan is required to show how the outputs of the project will be managed and the value of the outputs maximised (whilst taking into consideration that not all outputs can be shared openly). Updated guidance on outputs management plans has been published and can be found on Wellcome’s website. Researchers are also to note that: § Outputs should be made available with as few restrictions as possible. § Data and software underlying publications must be made available at the time of publication at the latest. § Data relevant to a public health emergency should be shared as soon as it has been quality assured regardless of publication timelines. § Outputs should be placed in community repositories, have persistent identifiers and be discoverable. § A check at the final report stage, to ensure outputs have been shared according to the policy, has been introduced (recognising that parameters change during the research and management plans can change accordingly). § Of course, management and sharing of research outputs comes with a cost and Wellcome Trust commit to reviewing and supporting associated costs as part of the grant. Wellcome have periodically reviewed take-up and implementation of their research outputs sharing and management policy and have observed some key responses: § Researchers are producing better quality plans; however, the formats and level of detail included in the plans do remain variable. § There is uncertainty amongst stakeholders (researchers, reviewers and institutions) in how to fulfil the policy. § Resources required to deliver plans are often not fully considered or requested. § Follow-up and reporting about compliance has been patchy. In response to these findings, Wellcome will continue to update their guidance and work with their communities to advise, educate and define best practice. They will encourage researchers to work more closely with their institutions, particularly over resource planning. They will also develop a proportionate mechanism to monitor compliance. Developing Open Research Robert Kiley then described the three areas which the dedicated Open Research Team at Wellcome lead and coordinate: funder-led activities; community-led activities and policy leadership. Funder-led activities include: § Wellcome Open Research, the publishing platform launched in partnership with F1000 around a year ago; here Wellcome-funded researchers can rapidly and transparently publish any results they think are worth sharing. Average submission to publication time for the first 100 papers published was 72 days – much faster than other publication venues. § Wellcome Trust is working with ASAP-Bio and other funders to support pre-prints and continues to support e-Life as an innovative Open Access journal. § Wellcome Trust will review their Open Access policy during 2018 and will consult their funded researchers and institutions as part of this process. § Wellcome provides the secretariat for the independent review panel for the com (CSDR) platform which provides access to anonymised clinical trial data from 13 pharmaceutical companies. From January 2018, they will extend the resource to allow listing of academic clinical trials supported by Wellcome, MRC, CRUK and Gates Foundation. Note that CDSR is not a repository but provides a common discoverability and access portal. Community-led activities Wellcome are inviting the community to develop and test innovative ideas in Open Research. Some exciting initiatives include: § The Open Science Prize: this initiative was run last year in partnership with US National Institutes of Health and Howard Hughes Medical Institute. It supported prototyping and development of tools and services to build on data and content. New prizes and challenges currently being developed will build on this model. § Research Enrichment – Open Research: this was launched in November 2017. Awards of up to £50K are available for Wellcome grant-holders to develop Open Research ideas that increase the impact of their funded research. § Forthcoming: more awards and themed challenges aimed at Open Research – including a funding competition for pioneering experiments in open research, and a prize for innovative data re-use. § The Open Research Pilot Project: whereby four Wellcome-funded groups are being supported at the University of Cambridge to make their research open. Policy Leadership In this area, Wellcome Trust engage in policy discussions in key policy groups at the national, European and international level. They also convene international Open Research funder’s webinars. They are working towards reform on rewards and incentives for researchers, by: § Policy development and declarations § Reviewing grant assessment procedures: for example, providing guidance to staff, reviewers and panel members so that there is a more holistic approach on the value and impact of research outputs. § Engagement: for example, by being clear on how grant applicants are being evaluated and committing to celebrate grantees who are practicing Open Research. Questions & Answers [SNIP]