Open research

Openness is at the heart of scholarly research. Research only reaches its full potential if it is conducted and shared in a transparent, timely and efficient manner, so that various audiences can access, re-use, benefit from and build upon it.

What is open research?

Open research primarily refers to access to publications (open access) and research data (open data). Open and transparent practices are increasingly the norm in how research is conducted and disseminated. Most major universities and funders in the UK, Europe, and North America have strongly endorsed open research policies. Thus, an open research environment expands beyond open access for publication and open data. Adopting open platforms and services, participating in open collaborative projects and engaging with the public are all ways to spark interest and debate between different disciplines and communities, and advance knowledge for the benefit of all.

Surrey’s Open Research Office

Surrey is committed to fostering a culture of openness among our researchers. The Open Research Office promotes and provides guidance on open practices to ensure discovery, transparency, and preservation of Surrey's research, and support Surrey researchers as they seek to work in an open research environment. We help researchers manage, publish and disseminate publications and data, as well as assess research performance using responsible metrics.

Get in touch with us!

Open access

The aim of open access is to make publications, including PhD theses, freely available to anyone, without the need for a password or a subscription, and with no restrictions in re-using the material.

This has benefits for different communities:

  • Researchers, including students, can access others' publications even if their institution does not subscribe to the journal. This is particularly helpful for smaller institutions or for researchers in developing countries.
  • Open access also strengthens a researcher’s profile. Openly accessible publications are highly visible and widely downloaded.
  • Practitioners, especially in the medical professions, as well as charities and policy makers can have timely access to the latest research to inform their decisions.
  • Small companies can speed up the development of products and technologies if they have timely access to relevant research.
  • Publishers can set up innovative business models, such as open presses.
  • The general public can have access to research in different areas of interest; research that they paid taxes to fund. This includes knowledge useful to patients and their families, who may wish to research options available to them.

Open access is now common practice in academia and in many cases a required route to sharing your research findings. The University of Surrey has an open access repository that includes Surrey theses and a large collection of Surrey researchers' publications.

Open data

The majority of funding bodies view publicly funded research data as a public good produced in the public interest. Making that data open and accessible brings significant benefits, both to the research community and the society which hosts and funds it.

These benefits include: 

  • Increasing the transparency and ability to reproduce your findings
  • Enabling innovative reuse and combination of data for new analyses 
  • Reducing duplication of efforts and funding
  • Increasing the visibility of your research
  • Facilitating the education of new researchers and the wider public. 

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