Open Science - Planning & Design
Project Workflows
Establishing an online workspace for your research project can help you and your team more easily collaborate and assign duties as necessary. Th
e Open Science Framework (OSF) is a free open-source software that facilitates open collaboration. As a workflow system, OSF enables connections to data, preprints, and data management and research planning that researchers already use, streamlining their process and increasing efficiency. For more information on getting started in using OSF as a project workflow platform, click the following links to learn more:
Image retrieved from OSF.io
- First time using OSFWalks users through how to create an account, along with other fundamental parts of the user experience.
- OSF Training VideosClips and full-length training videos walking you through high-level overviews and demos on how to use every aspect and tool on the OSF
- Getting Started with a Research TeamPart of a research team? Establishing a research group on the OSF is an excellent way of aggregating all of your team's work in one place. This help guide will help your team get started.
Preregistration
Preregistration is the practice of creating a publicly available record of your hypotheses and methodology (or research plan) before conducting your project.
Pre-registering a study plan or protocol reduces hindsight bias and overconfidence in uncertain predictions. Pre-registration also combats publication bias by allowing studies to be discoverable even if they're never published. Sharing all outcomes, not just positive or novel results, increases transparency in scientific research. Consider pre-registering your study or publishing a relevant article type, such as a Registered Report or Study Protocol.
Tools to preregister studies:
- Open Science Framework (OSF) Registries
OSF Registries are scholarly repositories built for sharing, searching, and aggregating registrations of research. An OSF Registry provides a permanent, transparent, easily accessible repository that enables the archiving, sharing, searching, and aggregating of funded study plans, designs, data, and outcomes - OSF: Secondary Data PreregistrationThis template includes instructions for registering a research project that uses an existing dataset.
- AsPredicted
AsPredicted offers preregistration through a simple, structured template. To pre-register a study, a researcher answers nine simple questions about their research design and analyses. The platform then generates a time-stamped, single page .pdf document that includes a unique URL for verification. - Protocols.io
Protocols.io is a secure platform for developing and sharing reproducible methods. The platform acts as a repository for detailed research methods and protocols. All public content on protocols.io is open access and free to both publish and read. - PROSPERO
PROSPERO is an international prospective register of systematic reviews. It also accepts registrations for rapid reviews and umbrella reviews. (This platform does not accept scoping reviews or literature scans).
Creating a Data Management Plan (DMP)
A data management plan (DMP) is a written document describing the nature and structure of the data you will likely use or produce in the course of research, along with your strategies for dealing with it throughout and after your project.
A successful DMP should answer the following:
- What data will be gathered or produced?
- Who will manage this data?
- How will the data be disseminated?
- How will the data be preserved for reuse?
For more detailed information on creating a data management plan, please visit our Research Data Management guide:
DMPTool
One of the simplest and most effective ways to create a DMP is by visiting DMPTool.org -
- DMPTool.orgUTSA is a partner institution with DMPTool, an online application that helps researchers create data management plans. DMPTool provides detailed guidance and links to general and institutional resources and walks a researcher through the process of generating a comprehensive plan tailored to specific DMP requirements.
UTSA is an institutional partner of DMPTool so you can login to access the UTSA customized DMPTool to save your plans, access UTSA-specific information and resources, and request a review of your DMP by a member of the Data Management Services team. Simply choose "University of Texas at San Antonio” as your institution and login with your abc123 credentials.
The DMPTool supports most federal and several non-profit and private funding agencies that require DMPs as part of the grant application, providing templates that meet the various requirements and streamlining the DMP creation process. If your funder isn't listed, there is also an option for a generic plan.