Open Research, also referred to as ‘open science’ and ‘open scholarship’, is a movement aimed at making scientific research more accessible, thereby enhancing opportunities for collaboration and contribution, and making it easier to verify, reuse, and enhance research outputs.
The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) recognises the importance of openness in improving health and health equity worldwide. It is committed to build, support, and strengthen a research environment based upon the principles of honesty, rigour, integrity, transparency, co-operation & open communication, and accountability, as outlined in the LSHTM Strategy 2022-2027.
Membership
LSHTM is a signatory of the Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), which it will apply in future research assessment exercises. This emphasises the importance of assessing the quality of research based on its substance rather than where it is published. LSHTM values a wide range of research contributions, including data, software, and other outputs, in addition to journal articles.
LSHTM is a member of the UK Reproducibility Network (UKRN), an independent consortium of organisations that work in partnership to improve the rigour, robustness and quality of research through development of education and communication of best practice.
Groups and initiatives
LSHTM is performing several activities to advance open research:
The LSHTM Library, Archive & Open Research Services (LAORS) is leading an initiative to advance awareness, understanding and take-up of open research and related research integrity practices. LOARS maintain LSHTM’s policies on Open Access Publishing and Research Data Management, as well as its Open Research Statement. Guidance on Open Access, Research Data Management and Open Science are available on the LAORS intranet pages and LAORS blog.
The LSHTM Centre for Data and Statistical Science for Health (DASH) brings together data science expertise across LSHTM to facilitate interdisciplinary research and develop new approaches in data and statistical science to find innovative solutions to major global health problems.
The LSHTM Global Health Analytics group develop open source data systems for use in emergencies and epidemics, scalable low-cost laboratory diagnostics and methods for integrated surveillance of infectious diseases.
In addition, LSHTM maintains several grass-roots initiatives run by early career researchers, including a local Reproducibility network and R user group.
Open platforms
LSHTM Press: An open access publisher of peer-reviewed research and high-quality educational resources related to public and global health.
LSHTM Research Online: LSHTM’s digital repository for journal articles, doctoral theses, and other open access materials.
LSHTM Data Compass: LSHTM’s digital repository for data, software, and other materials that underpin research findings.
LSHTM Open Study: Open Educational Resources (OER) that are made available for access and reuse.
